LAHORE: As the elections draw nearer, former Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Imran Khan, has submitted a petition to the Lahore High Court, seeking to overturn his disqualification and enable his participation in the upcoming polls.
The application, filed on Thursday through his lawyer Ali Zafar, names the Election Commission of Pakistan as a party.
Imran Khan, the former prime minister, asserts that he was disqualified by the Election Commission on August 8 for five years. He contends that the decision was hastily made, to keep him out of the forthcoming elections.
The petition emphasizes that the elections are swiftly approaching, as the Supreme Court has already set a date for them. Imran Khan maintains that the grounds for his disqualification are unfounded.
In his plea to the Lahore High Court, Khan requests the suspension of the notification regarding his disqualification until the court has decided on the matter.
The former prime minister faced disqualification from holding public office following an accountability court’s judgment in August, which found him guilty of ‘corrupt’ practices in the Toshakhana case. He was arrested in connection with the case shortly after the court’s decision.
IHC Adjourns Nawaz Sharif’s Appeal, Opting for Merit-Based Hearing in Al-Azizia Case
In another development, the Islamabad High Court presided over by a two-member bench consisting of Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Gul Hassan Aurangzeb, adjourned Nawaz Sharif’s appeal in the Al-Azizia case.
The court decided that the case would be heard on its merits rather than focusing on procedural or technical matters. Lawyers Amjad Pervaiz and Azam Nazeer Tarar, representing Nawaz, argued for a merit-based hearing, which was granted.
During the proceedings, Nawaz’s legal team informed the court that they no longer wished to pursue the case related to the Judge Arshad Malik video scandal. In 2018, Nawaz received a seven-year jail sentence and a Rs1.5 billion fine in the Al-Azizia reference.
Nawaz had filed petitions to reinstate his appeals against convictions in the Al-Azizia and Avenfield cases upon his return to the country after four years of exile. The appeals were reinstated on October 24. The same IHC bench previously acquitted Nawaz in the Avenfield reference.
The court questioned Nawaz’s lawyers about the link between the reference and the Panama Papers, to which Pervaiz confirmed that three references, including the Al-Azizia case, had been filed on the Supreme Court’s instructions.
