LAHORE, April 5: A division bench of the Lahore High Court on Saturday dismissed an application by former federal minister Ejazul Haq to restrain Rauf Khalid, the returned candidate from PP-284, Fort Abbas, from taking oath in the Punjab Assembly’s opening session on April 9.

Jutsice Syed Asghar Haider and Hafiz Tariq Nasim will take up the case after the LHC office fixes it for hearing.

Haq had moved the court for a direction against Khalid stating that he was not eligible to contest the elections because of his conviction in a corruption reference in 2001. An accountability court had convicted Khalid and sentenced him to three years in imprisonment.

Relying on Section 16 of the National Accountability Bureau Ordinance, Haq’s counsel Ali Zafr said Khalid stood disqualified from contesting elections for a period of 10 years on account of his conviction.

Khalid’s counsel Azam Nazir Tarar said the accountability court did not invoke the disqualification clause while handing down the conviction. Besides, he said the writ could not be issued against his client because his client's appeal against the conviction was pending before the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Moreover, he said, his client had moved an application before the Supreme Court, praying that he be cleared of all charges under the National Reconciliation Ordinance.—Reporter