LAHORE: An Appellate Tribunal constituted at the Lahore High Court (LHC) has upheld the decision of the Returning Officer (RO) to reject the nomination papers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan from NA-122 constituency in Lahore.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) lawyer argued before the tribunal that the PTI founder was disqualified and his petitioner does not belong to NA-122 constituency.
Court of Appeal Judge Tariq Nadeem announced the verdict after hearing arguments.
Khan’s nomination papers were rejected for the National Assembly constituency of Lahore and his hometown Mianwali on 30 December 2023.
The former prime minister, who was disqualified from holding public office for five years in the Toshakhan case, has filed his nomination papers from constituencies NA-122 in Lahore and NA-89 in Mianwali for the February 8, 2024 elections.
“The founder of PTI has been convicted,” said the RO in charge of scrutiny of nomination papers of NA-122 constituency, explaining the basis of the decision.
The objections raised by PML-N’s Mian Naseer related to Khan’s five-year disqualification in the Toshakhan case, where the election body found him guilty of corrupt practices under Section 167 of the Election Act, 2017.
“The Petitioner and Deputy Founder of PTI does not belong to NA-122,” the objection added.
From disqualifying Toshakhana to having an illegitimate daughter and not paying social security funds of Rs 3.6 million, several objections were raised against Khan’s nomination papers filed from his NA-89 Mianwali stronghold.
Pursuant to the objections, the returning officer rejected the former prime minister’s nomination papers.
