LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) election tribunal Wednesday allowed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan to contest by-elections in NA-108 Faisalabad and NA-118 Nankana Sahib constituencies, while rejecting objections of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
A Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) candidate Dr Shezra Mansab Kharal had also challenged the acceptance of Imran’s nomination papers for the by-polls. However, the court rejected her plea as well.
Imran Khan, in his appeal against the ECP decision, stated that the returning officer (RO) rejected his papers against the law and ignored the facts. He asked the tribunal to set aside the RO’s decision and allow him to contest the by-election in NA-108.
The ECP had rejected Imran’s nomination for NA-108 by-polls due to “insufficient” details regarding his assets. The ECP said that Imran Khan’s nomination papers were not rejected due to signature verification issue. Imran’s nomination papers were rejected due to insufficient details of assets, it said.
Barrister Ali Zafar represented Imran Khan while lawyers Mansoor Usman Awan and Khalid Ishaq appeared on behalf of Dr Kharal. The LHC tribunal set aside the ECP order and rejected the PMLN candidate’s appeal as well and permitted the PTI chairman to contest the NA-108 and NA-118 by-polls.
