LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has cleared the way for a petition challenging the practice of politicians contesting in multiple constituencies, as the Registrar Office’s objections were set aside by Justice Anwar Hussain on Monday.
The petition was filed by citizen Zahid Mehmood, who argues that this practice leads to a loss of resources and is a violation of the constitution of Pakistan.
The petitioner has requested the court to ban politicians from contesting elections in more than one seat at a time and to order the government of Pakistan to legislate on the matter. The case has been directed for hearing by the LHC.
By-elections for 33 vacant seats in the National Assembly (NA) will take place on March 16, with former Premier Imran Khan set to contest for all 33 seats, according to the announcement by vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Sunday.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has released the schedule for the by-polls and has set the dates for receiving nomination papers from February 6 to 8.