The apex court accepted the appeals of the PML-N leaders for the recounting of votes in NA-79 Gujranwala, NA-81 Gujranwala, and NA-154 Lodhran in a 2-1 majority order, clearing the way for the recounting of votes.

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan ruled in favour of the vote recount while Justice Aqeel Abbasi did not agree with them.

The apex court in its decision said the ECP is a constitutional body, and the ECP members deserve respect.

It added some judges of the High Court refuse to respect the ECP, stressing all judges should respect the ECP.

It is to be noted here that Azhar Qayum Nahra of PML-N had challenged the LHC’s verdict to suspend the notification of his victory from the NA-81 constituency.

Initially, PTI-backed independent candidate Chaudhry Bilal was declared a winner by a margin of 7,791 votes in the 2024 general elections.

However, after a vote recount requested by Nahra, the ECP declared Nahra the returned candidate, with a margin of 3,100 votes. During the recount, at least 10,000 of Nahra’s votes were declared cancelled.

Bilal then challenged the ECP’s decision in the LHC, which on April 4, set aside the notification of Azhar Nahra’s victory from NA-81.

The court had also ruled that the ECP could not entertain complaints against election disputes once election tribunals begin their work.