LAHORE: On Wednesday, an appellate tribunal within the Lahore High Court dismissed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s appeal against the rejection of his nomination papers from the NA-122 constituency.
Justice Tariq Nadeem upheld the decision made by the returning officer (RO) to reject Imran Khan’s nomination papers.
Imran Khan faced the rejection of his nomination papers for a National Assembly constituency in Lahore and his hometown Mianwali on December 30, 2023.
This ruling arrives on the final day for addressing appeals concerning the acceptance or dismissal of nomination papers ahead of the February 8 general elections.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had declined Imran Khan’s nomination papers for two National Assembly constituencies – NA 122 (Lahore) and NA-89 (Mianwali), citing his conviction.
“The PTI founder has been convicted,” stated the returning officer (RO) as the reason for rejecting the former prime minister’s nomination papers.
Mian Naseer from PML-N contested Imran Khan’s nomination papers, pointing out that the seconder and proposer of the former PM did not belong to NA-122, a legal requirement.
As per the RO’s ruling, Imran Khan’s nomination papers for NA-122 were dismissed due to his conviction in the Toshakhana case by an additional session judge. The verdict mentioned a disqualification of five years under Article 63/1-F for corrupt practices.
In a comprehensive verdict, the RO confirmed the objections raised by PTI leader Naseer Ahmed against Imran Khan’s nomination papers.
Meanwhile, the allotment of election symbols to candidates is scheduled for January 13, and the general elections are set for February 8.
Recently, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) assigned election symbols to 145 political parties across Pakistan in preparation for the 2024 general elections. Additionally, electoral symbols were allocated to 177 independent candidates contesting the elections.
The Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) retained the electoral symbol of the ‘lion,’ while the Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarian (PPPP) received the ‘arrow’ as its election symbol.
Among the parties receiving election symbols were PTI Nazriati, PTI-P, MLJ, PPP, IPP, JUI, JI, BNP, PAP, TLP, and others.
I am an experienced writer, analyst, and author. My exposure in English journalism spans more than 28 years. In the past, I have been working with daily The Muslim (Lahore Bureau), daily Business Recorder (Lahore/Islamabad Bureaus), Daily Times, Islamabad, daily The Nation (Lahore and Karachi). With daily The Nation, I have served as Resident Editor, Karachi. Since 2009, I have been working as a Freelance Writer/Editor for American organizations.
