LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday rejected the appeals made by Imran Khan, the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and other party leaders challenging the rejection of their nomination papers by returning officers (ROs) for the upcoming general elections.
Imran Khan, the former prime minister, had submitted nomination papers for NA-122 Lahore and NA-89 Mianwali in anticipation of the general elections scheduled for February 8. However, both sets of papers were turned down by the respective ROs. Subsequently, Khan contested these rejections before the election appellate tribunals, where his appeals met with dismissal.
In response, Imran Khan filed a writ petition with a larger bench of the LHC against the tribunal's decision. Additionally, 60 other PTI leaders submitted petitions in the LHC contesting the rejection of their nomination papers. Today marked the final day for filing petitions against the decisions of the election tribunals.
A three-member LHC bench, presided over by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, delivered the reserved verdict on more than 60 petitions, including those of Imran Khan, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Pervaiz Elahi, and others. The bench upheld the decision to reject the nomination papers, thereby dismissing the appeals. Shah Mahmood Qureshi had challenged the rejection of his nominations from NA-150, NA-151, and PP-218.
Moreover, Fawad Chaudhry's application against the rejection of nomination papers from NA-60 and NA-61 was also dismissed. The court rejected the petition challenging the rejection of the nomination papers of Fawad Chaudhry's wife, Hiba Fawad.
The Lahore High Court also affirmed the decision to reject Sanam Javed's nomination papers from NA-119 and NA-120. Sanam Javed had contested the rejection of her nomination papers from PP-150.
In an earlier announcement, the three-member bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa dealt a significant blow to Imran Khan-led PTI's aspirations to retain its symbol. Consequently, PTI candidates will now participate in the elections independently with different electoral symbols, and the party forfeits the right to reserved seats for women and minorities.
