LHC turns down Imran Khan’s plea against rejection of nomination papers

LHC turns down Imran Khan’s plea against rejection of nomination papers

Lahore: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday rejected former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan’s petitions challenging the decisions of the rejection of his nomination papers from NA-122 (Lahore) and NA-89 (Mianwali).

A three-member LHC bench headed by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi heard the ex-premier’s petitions.

Imran had filed two petitions in the LHC requesting the court to set aside the decisions of the ROs and the appellate tribunals of rejecting the nomination papers from both constituencies of the National Assembly.

Imran’s nomination papers had been rejected primarily on the grounds of being convicted in the Toshakhana case, in which he was sentenced to three years of imprisonment.

The case, filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), had accused Imran of not mentioning the details of state gifts in his tax declarations.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has directed the provincial election commissioners, returning officers (ROs) and district returning officers (DROs) to refrain from changing electoral symbols.

In a statement, a spokesperson of the electoral body said that if the change is required, permission should be sought from the ECP.

“Change in the electoral symbol may not be possible at this point in time when the process of printing ballot papers has been started,” the ECP spokesperson stated.