LAHORE, Sep 17: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday referred the petition challenging Mian Amer’s holding of the Lahore District Nazim office to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

Justice Nasim Sikander, who had admitted the petition for regular hearing, referred it to the EC for deciding it accordingly after hearing both the parties by Oct 13.

Petitioner Adnan Amanat, who accused Amer of acting against the public interest and sought his dismissal from his office, said he had got admission to a private computer institution chaired by the nazim which claimed degree-awarding status with international recognition.

However, the petitioner discovered later on that a false claim had been made in the prospectus, as the institution had no collaboration with any foreign institute nor was it authorized to award degrees.

He quoted replies from the Higher Education Commission and the University Grants Commission in “support” of his contention.

The petitioner’s counsel had argued that the respondent was involved in activities prejudicial to the public interest and was barred by Section 152 of the Local government Ordinance, 2001, to hold his office of district nazim.