The Electoral Tribunal has upheld the rejection of former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s candidacies for Lahore’s NA-122 and Mianwali’s PS 89, leading to his disqualification from the upcoming general elections.
Judge Tariq Nadeem, Chief Justice of the Election Tribunal of the Lahore High Court, has dismissed the appeal regarding the rejection of PTI founder Imran Khan’s papers for NA-122.
The court upheld the decision of the Returning Officer (RO), which concluded that the candidate’s supporter did not belong to the constituency.
Similarly, Justice Chaudhry Abdul Aziz dismissed Imran’s appeal for NA-89 and accepted the RO’s objections.
Noting that Imran’s conviction in the Toshakhana case had disqualified him from contesting the elections, the court emphasized that the duration of the sentence was immaterial until a sanction was announced.
After the verdicts, Imran’s lawyer Umair Niazi said he planned to challenge the verdicts before a larger bench of the Supreme Court.
On December 30, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) rejected Imran’s candidacy due to his conviction in the Toshakhana case, emphasizing that under these circumstances he was ineligible to contest elections for the duration of his conviction.
According to the ECP’s election manifesto, the courts are expected to conclude hearings today and release a revised list of candidates tomorrow.
“The withdrawal of nominations is scheduled for January 12 (Friday) and the final list of candidates will also be published on the same day,” an ECP spokesperson said earlier.
The distribution of election symbols to candidates is scheduled for January 13 (Saturday) and the election will take place on February 8, the spokesperson added.