An appellate tribunal of the Lahore High Court Monday rejected the returning officer (RO)’s objections and allowed Imran to contest elections from Mianwali’s NA-95 constituency.
Appellate tribunal judge Justice Faisal Zaman Khan had reserved the verdict earlier in the day on an appeal filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan against the decision of the returning officer.
Announcing its decision, the tribunal rejected the RO’s objections and allowed Imran to contest from the constituency.
During the hearing earlier, Babar Awan, counsel for Imran, contended, “My client has declared all his assets. The RO had rejected Imran’s nomination papers on technical grounds.”
He continued: “The RO while rejecting the PTI chairman’s nomination papers alleged that the affidavit was not submitted on time and that the worth of all of his assets was not mentioned.”
He requested the tribunal to declare the RO’s decision null and void. “The tribunal should allow Imran to contest the upcoming election from NA-95,” he pleaded. However, lawyer Jahandad Khan told the court that the oath commissioner had not attested Imran’s affidavit.
“Imran’s signatures are different on every page,” Jahandad stated.
Published in Daily Times, June 26th 2018.
