LHC returns petition seeking disqualification of Buzdar

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court Registrar Office has raised objection and retuned a writ petition seeking disqualification of Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar for purportedly concealing facts about his assets in the nomination papers he had submitted before the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) during the 2018 general elections.

Since Buzdar won election from PP-286, Taunsa Shareef, which falls under the territorial jurisdiction of the LHC Multan bench, the petitioner should approach the LHC Multan bench, the Registrar Office wrote in its objections. The office also objected to making the chief minister respondent in the petition, as according to it, the chief minister enjoys constitutional immunity. The petitioner, Abdul Waheed Khan Baloch, requested the court that the election of the CM be declared null and void after holding that he is not an honest person in light of Article 62 and Article 63 of the Constitution.

The petitioner maintained that the respondent CM’s membership be de-notified and he be restrained to exercise his powers as Punjab’s chief minister till final disposal of this petition.