SC allows PTI Balochistan president Yar Muhammad Rind to contest election

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Balochistan president Yar Muhammad Rind to contest the 2018 General Election.

Setting aside the Balochistan High Court’s (BHC) decision disqualifying rind from the poll run, the top court directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to issue an electoral symbol to the PTI candidate.

A two-judge bench of the apex court heard Rind’s plea against the BHC’s decision to disqualify him on the grounds that he possessed a fake degree and had a murder case against him.

Rind’s lawyer told the court, “I had intentionally written in the nomination papers that the PTI Balochistan president holds a Faculty of Arts (FA) degree.”

Claiming that Rind’s previous nomination papers stated that he held a Master’s degree, his counsel added, “I made a conscious decision to not mention that.”

Further, the PTI Balochistan president’s counsel denied the chief justice’s suggestion that there seems to be “some dishonesty” behind the decision.

“I was not being dishonest when I hid the degree certificate,” he said.

Regarding the murder case against him, Rind's lawyer stated, "He has been granted bail in the case and I have submitted a copy of it."

The court subsequently set aside BHC's decision.

On Tuesday, a two-member bench of the BHC declared the PTI Balochistan president ineligible to contest the election scheduled for July 25.

Rind had moved the BHC after an ECP's appellate tribunal upheld a returning officer’s decision to disqualify him from contesting the election from NA-260 and PB-17, Naseerabad/Jhal Magsi.