LAHORE, Oct 5: The Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf on Saturday filed a writ petition in the Lahore High Court against the Chaudhrys of Gujrat seeking their disqualification from contesting polls for getting loans of over Rs60 million written off from two banks.

Pakistan Bar Association president Hamid Khan filed the petition on behalf of Punjab PTI chief Sajid Pervez praying the court to issue a prohibitory order to the government, the Election Commission and returning officers of NA-105 and PP-110 (respondents 1, 2 and 5, respectively) to bar Shujaat Husain and Pervez Elahi from contesting polls.

Annual reports of the National Bank and the Muslim Commercial Bank revealing writing off Rs38 million and Rs22.7 million loans by the two banks, respectively, have been attached with the petition as “irrefutable evidence”.

The petitioner also submitted that the government through its officials and public funds was helping and promoting the candidates fielded by the PML-QA.

He also prayed that the Election Commission had turned a blind eye to the misstatements and wrong declarations submitted by the respondents 3 and 4 (Shujaat and Pervez) while filing nomination papers. Thus, he said, the EC had ignored the criteria explained in the General Elections Order, 2002, and the Representation of People’s Act 1976.

“It is clear from the provisions that any person who had obtained a loan of Rs2 million or above from any bank and had it written off, will be disqualified from being elected member of parliament or provincial assembly,” the petitioner stated.

Shujaat and Pervez, both directors of the Punjab Sugar Mills, Mian Channu, had obtained a loan from the NBP in the name of the company and got Rs37.987 million written off in 1999 using their political influence when the former was federal interior minister and the latter Punjab Assembly speaker, he said.

It was submitted that the returning officers accepted nomination papers of respondents 3 and 4 illegally, and pleaded that the court should issue orders to the authorities concerned barring the two from contesting Oct 10 polls.

Earlier, the PTI had submitted an application to the State Bank governor urging him to initiate an action against Shujaat and Pervez for getting written off a loan of Rs22 million from MCB.

A copy of the bank’s annual report had also been submitted along with the application as an evidence as the SBP promised to probe the matter.