LAHORE/ISLAMABAD  -  The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday or­dered the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to promptly decide the application against the electoral victory of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif from NA-130 in the general elections 2024. Justice Ali Baqar Najafi passed the orders while dispos­ing of a petition filed by runner-up independent candidate Dr Yasmin Rashid, who was also a leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, against the election victory of the PML-N supremo.

Dr Yasmin Rashid, through the petition, submit­ted that she ran for election in NA-130 against the PML-N supremo but was defeated. She alleged that vote counts in Form 45 and 47 were manipulated to declare Nawaz Sharif as a successful candidate. She pleaded with the court to direct authorities to issue results in accordance with Form 45 and stop the commission from issuing final results of the constituency. The petitioner further submitted that she had already filed an application with the ECP against the victory of the PML-N supremo.

Meanwhile, the court also dismissed two sepa­rate petitions against electoral victories of the PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and Hamza Shah­baz from NA-130 and PP-147 respectively. The court directed the petitioners to approach the re­turning officer and the ECP for redressal of their grievances as it was the first available forum. Can­didate Ishtiaq Chaudhry had challenged the vic­tory of Nawaz Sharif from NA-130 whereas candi­date Muhammad Khan Madni had challenged the victory of Hamza Shahbaz from PP-147.