Tribunal allows Imran Khan to contest from Mianwali's NA-95 constituency
Returning officer had rejected Imran's candidacy for Mianwali's NA-95 constituency during scrutiny of nomination papers
June 25, 2018
LAHORE: An appellate tribunal of the Lahore High Court on Monday announced its verdict on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s appeal against the rejection of his candidacy for Mianwali's NA-95 constituency.
Appellate tribunal judge Justice Faisal Zaman Khan had reserved the verdict earlier today while hearing Imran’s appeal in which he pleaded that the tribunal should reject the decision of the returning officer (RO) to reject his nomination papers.
Announcing its decision, the tribunal rejected the RO's objections and allowed Imran to contest from the constituency.
During the hearing earlier, Imran’s counsel Babar Awan argued, “My client has declared all his assets.”
“The RO rejected Imran’s nomination papers on technical grounds,” he added.
Awan further said, “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.”
Imran’s counsel 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,” Awan pleaded.
However, lawyer Jahandad Khan told the court, “The oath commissioner has not attested Imran’s affidavit.”
“Imran’s signatures are different on every page,” Jahandad further stated.
On Saturday, the appellate tribunal issued a notice to the returning officer and other parties after Imran's nomination papers were rejected from NA-95 Mianwali constituency.
The PTI chairman had submitted nominations from National Assembly constituencies in Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Bannu and Mianwali.
Imran's candidacy was rejected from NA-53 (Islamabad) and NA-95 (Mianwali).
