Verdict on Imran appeal against papers’ rejection on 10th

LAHORE/ PESHAWAR: The election tribunal, established at the Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi bench, Sunday reserved its verdict on an appeal, filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder and former premier Imran Khan against the rejection of his nomination papers. The decision will be announced on January 10 now.

Justice Chaudhry Abdul Aziz heard the appeal while Barrister Ali Zafar represented former chairman PTI. The judge asked Barrister Ali Zafar how long it would take him to complete his arguments. The counsel replied he needed only 45 minutes for the purpose.

Barrister Ali Zafar stated that the court had to decide what the crime was in moral turpitude. “I will divide my arguments into three parts,” Barrister Ali Zafar said and added that the case was different from the moral turpitude case.

Justice Abdul Aziz remarked that the moral turpitude should be discussed first. The tribunal asked whether details of the items taken from the state depository were given. “We are not discussing merits of Toshakhana case here. Whether the money obtained by selling the items was stated,” asked the court. Barrister Ali Zafar replied in the affirmative.

Earlier, while talking to the media outside the Lahore High Court Rawalpindi bench, PTI lawyer Ali Zafar said it was not moral turpitude; it was a misdeclaration and it could not cause disqualification.

He said Imran Khan was accused of moral turpitude and conviction. His sentence had been suspended and 62(1f) is not applicable to him, he added.

Barrister Ali Zafar said only the court could decide on the disqualification of his client and not the returning officer (RO).

After hearing the arguments, the court reserved the decision and said it would be pronounced on January 10.

Separately, the Lahore High Court (LHC) appellate tribunal Sunday dismissed PTI activist Sanam Javed’s appeals against rejection of her nomination papers. The tribunal upheld the RO’s decision to reject incarcerated Sanam’s nomination papers, submitted for two National Assembly seats and one provincial assembly seat — NA-120, NA-119 and PP-150.

Justice Tariq Nadeem announced the verdict on her appeals.

On Dec 19, Sanam submitted her nomination papers announcing that she would contest elections against Maryam Nawaz from Lahore’s provincial assembly seat, PP-150. She is among dozens of PTI workers and leaders who are in jail in connection with the May 9 riots.

On the other hand, the tribunal reserved a decision on an appeal filed by Nadeem Sherwani against the acceptance of PMLN Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz’s nomination papers by the RO from NA-119. The decision was reserved after the petitioner submitted additional documents to support his appeal.

The LHC appellate tribunal overturned the RO’s decision of rejecting the nomination papers of PTI leader Hammad Azhar and his father Mian Azhar from PP-171 over their seconders and proposers not showing up.

Their seconders and proposers appeared before the tribunal upon which Justice Ahmed Nadeem Arshad announced the verdict in their favour.

However, Justice Tariq Nadeem dismissed Azhar’s appeal against the rejection of his papers from the NA-129 constituency.

Meanwhile, two election tribunals Sunday set aside the rejection of nomination papers of several candidates by the returning officers and allowed 23 people, including PTI leaders Ali Mohammad Khan, Zahir Shah Toru and others, to contest elections slated for February 8.

Hearing the appeals, Justice Shakeel Ahmad remarked that the ECP should have properly trained the ROs. He said the ROs rejected the nomination papers of candidates over petty issues. The returning officers did not bother to appear before the election tribunal despite being summoned.

On Sunday, the two election tribunals, headed by Justice Shakeel Ahmad and Justice Waqar Ahmad, heard 23 appeals of the candidates. They overturned the decisions of returning officers and accepted most of the appeals. However, eight appeals were adjourned for further hearing.

A group of lawyers, including Syed Sikandar Shah, Ali Gohar Durrani, Barrister Waqar Ali Shah, Lajbar Khan, Ali Zaman and Adnan Aman, appeared before the tribunals in connection with the appeals of their clients.

The counsel for Ali Mohammad Khan said his nomination papers were rejected for not attaching the party ticket. His lawyer told the tribunal that the party ticket could be attached with the nomination papers until January 12. The election symbols would be allotted to the candidates on January 13.

Mohsin Kamran Siddiqui appearing for the ECP also told the tribunal that the party ticket would be attached until January 12, adding that election symbols would be allotted to the candidates on January 13. After hearing the arguments, the tribunal accepted his appeal and allowed him to run for the election. The tribunal allowed Sharafat Khan to run for NA-30 while his nomination papers for the provincial assembly constituency PK-76 were rejected as his proposer did not belong to his constituency. The tribunal accepted the appeals of Senator Aurangzeb, Zahir Shah Toru, Shahidullah, Pirzada Ibne-Amin, Ajmal Khan and others.