LAHORE: A two-judge bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) will take up a petition on Monday seeking disqualification of Prime Minister Imran Khan as Member of the National Assembly (MNA) from NA-131 Lahore, on the grounds of not being “sadiq and ameen” as required under Articles 62 & 63 of the Constitution.

Mudassar Chaudhry of the Pakistan Justice and Democratic Party, a defeated candidate from NA-131, had challenged the election of Mr Khan accusing him of concealing personal details in his nomination papers.

Mr Chaudhry, through his counsel Mobeenuddin Qazi, submitted that under Section 60 (2) (d) of the Election Act 2017, a candidate had to furnish a statement of his assets and liabilities and of his spouse and dependent children.

However, he said, Mr Khan failed to disclose the details of the properties owned by his wife, two sons and ‘daughter’ Tyrian Jade Khan White.

The petitioner also stated that the respondent had not made truthful declaration in nomination papers as well as in affidavit to the effect that Tyrian Jade Khan White was his daughter.

Tyrian White is the daughter of Sita White, daughter of Lord Gordon White, who was a co-founder of an international building materials company. It has often been alleged that Tyrian is Imran Khan’s daughter.

Mr Chaudhry said the respondent was hence disqualified under Article 62(1) (d), (e) and (f) and Article 63(1) (o) & (p) of the Constitution.

Article 62 explains the criterion of “qualifications for member of Majlis-i-Shoora (parliament)” and one of its clause calls for candidates to be “sadiq and amen” (honest and righteous).

Mr Chaudhry pleaded that the election of Mr Khan as returned candidate be declared void and, hence, the nomination of the respondent was also invalid.

He further asked the court to de-notify the respondent as an MNA and declare the seat as vacant, besides issuing directions to the Election Commission of Pakistan for initiating proceedings against him.

In December 2018, the LHC had dismissed a similar petition on technical gro­unds filed by defeated candidate Abdul Wahab of the same political party — Pak­is­tan Justice and Demo­cratic Party — challenging the victory of Mr Khan from NA-95 Mianwali.

Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2019