RAWALPINDI: The Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi Bench on Sunday reserved its decision on the rejections of nomination papers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan
Election tribunal proceedings were presided over Justice Chaudhry Abdul Aziz while Barrister Ali Zafar represented the former premier.
Imran’s counsel prayed to the tribunal to annul the decision made by the returning officer on Imran’s nomination papers. Zafar argued that the RO lacks the authority to determine moral turpitude or eligibility without proper evidence.
He also referred to a similar case of PML-N’s Khawaja Asif before the 2018 general elections.
The tribunal stated that in the case of the PML-N leader, contention was on the issue of salary. The judge then asked if the items taken from the Toshakhana were mentioned or not. Justice Aziz then stated that they were not debating the merits of the Toshakhana case, however, the court was trying to determine if the funds from the sale of Toshakhana items were declared or not.
The director-general law, who was also present, asserted that the RO was obligated to conduct a summary hearing. He maintained that if an accused is convicted, the individual is disqualified from contesting the polls. He further added that the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has disqualified Imran and it remains in effect.
The senior law officer further stated that the RO rejected the papers in accordance with the law, and therefore, it is requested that Imran’s appeal be dismissed.
Imran’s nomination papers were rejected for both NA-89 Mianwali and NA-122, Lahore. “The candidate is convicted by the court of law and he has been disqualified under Article 63 (1)(h) of the Constitution … read with section 232 of the Election Act 2017,” the RO in NA-122 said in his order.
“The proposer of the candidate is not a registered voter in the constituency of NA-122 and hit by section 60(1) of the Election Act 2017,” the RO said, citing the reasons for rejecting the nomination papers.
Earlier in a petition to the LHC, Imran contended that recent amendments to the Elections Act 2017 limit the ECP’s jurisdiction in deciding the qualification or disqualification of a member based on a court conviction.
The PTI founder urged the court to set aside the ECP’s notification, which disqualified him for a period of five years and purportedly de-notified him as the returned candidate from constituency NA-45 Kurram-I. He further requested the court to suspend the operation of the notification until the final disposal of the petition.
He accused the ECP of acting with unlawful zeal and haste to exclude him from the upcoming general elections rather than ensuring fair and free elections.
