Imran’s disqualification case: Athar Minallah recuses himself from hearing

ISLAMABAD: Justice Athar Minallah, part of the two-member Islamabad High Court (IHC) divisional bench, on Thursday recused himself from hearing the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s disqualification case after which the bench was dissolved once again.

While recusing himself from the case, Justice Athar Minallah stated that he had ties with former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in the past, and hence he could not hear a petition filed by a member of the party founded by Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

The bench, headed by Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, was to hear a petition filed by Abdul Wahab Baloch, a member of Justice and Democratic Party, challenging Imran Khan’s nomination papers for NA-243 over the Sita White case.

The petition was filed on June 12, which stated that the PTI chief used wrong information in his nomination papers and did not mention Tyrian White as his daughter. He is, therefore, neither Sadiq nor Ameen and should be disqualified under the Article 62 of Constitution.

The new bench was formed after the former bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb had recused itself from hearing the case following the petitioner’s objections. After the latest dissolution, the matter of the bench has been referred to the IHC chief justice once again.