LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Monday dismissed a petition against the acceptance of nomination papers of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan for NA-131, Lahore.

A citizen, Jahangir Dogar, filed the petition challenging Mr Khan’s candidature, accusing him of concealing details of his and his family’s assets. He said the PTI chief also concealed information about his alleged daughter born out of his relation with Sita White.

The petitioner also accused Mr Khan of submitting false declaration with his nomination papers.

He asked the court to set aside the decisions of the returning officer (RO) and the appellate tribunal and reject the nomination papers of the PTI’s head.

However, a division bench headed by Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi dismissed the petition and observed that the petitioner was not an aggrieved party.

The bench also dismissed a petition of an independent candidate, Raheel Waseem Sheikh, for NA-125, Lahore, against rejection of his nomination papers by the RO.

The bench observed the petitioner failed to assail the RO’s decision before the appellate tribunal within the stipulated time, therefore, the instant petition was not maintainable. The RO had rejected his papers for being a defaulter of the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL).

The tribunal also dismissed a petition against the nomination papers of the PML-N’s candidate, Rana Hayat, from NA-140, Kasur.

Opponent candidate of the PTI, Sardar Talib Nikai, had filed the petition pleading that a company owned by Mr Hayat was blacklisted in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) record.

However, ECP counsel told the bench the RO accepted the nomination papers of Mr Hayat after he submitted a clearance certificate issued by the FBR.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2018