The Supreme Court on Friday allowed Sanam Javed to participate in general elections from NA-119, NA-120 and PP-150 Lahore as it set aside the Lahore High Court’s decision regarding her nomination papers.

A three-member SC bench headed by Justice Munib Akhtar and comprising Justice Shahid Waheed and Justice Irfan Saadat Khan issued the verdict after hearing the appeal of Javed against the LHC’s decision.

The apex court, in its 2-page written order, said: “We have heard learned counsel for the petitioner as also the learned DG (Law) and learned DG (Political Finance).”

“This leave petition is converted into an appeal and allowed. The impugned judgment of the learned High Court are set aside with the result that the nomination papers of the petitioner, now appellant, for NA-119 (Lahore), NA-120 and PP-150 are deemed accepted, and her name is deemed included in the final list of candidates for the General Elections of 2024,” the top court said in its verdict.

The court directed the Election Commission of Pakistan to include her name and election symbol on the ballot papers for the general election.

Earlier during the hearing, the court observed that a candidate could allocate a joint bank account for elections as there was no restriction in law in that regard.

The petitioner’s lawyer contended that on December 21, his client Sanam Javed gave an affidavit dated December 22 before the oath commissioner who confirmed her signature.

He said that the returning office rejected her nomination papers citing that no one met her in jail on December 22.

The lawyer said that his client never claimed that she had signed the document on December 22. The jail administration, in response to the RO’s letter, confirmed that no one held a meeting with Javed on December 22, and on that basis her documents were rejected, he added.

He further said that Javed mentioned a joint bank account with her father in the nomination papers. The RO objected that why a separate bank account was not allocated for election expenses.

Justice Shahid Waheed remarked that how the returning officer could conduct an inquiry into the matter himself.

The court subsequently approved the appeal of Javed and allowed her to contest the elections.