LAHORE, Dec 13: A full bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday said Mian Ajmal, a Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-i-Azam (PML-Q) candidate from PP-63, Faisalabad, should be present in the court on Dec 17 to reply to objections raised by his rival.

Rana Usman Masood has challenged Ajmal’s nomination papers on the grounds that Darul Aloom Muhammadia, Doddi, Bannu, the madressah from where Ajmal got a certificate, was not affiliated with Wafaqi Darul Madaras. The court has admitted the petition for a regular hearing.

Masood said the Higher Education Commission (HEC) did not recognise the certificate as equivalent of bachelor’s degree. The petitioner had earlier moved the returning officer and the election tribunal against Bhatti, but his claim was dismissed.

Separately, an election tribunal issued notice to Intisar Hussain Bhatti, a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate from NA-103 and PP-107 (Hafizabad), to file reply till Dec 17 to a petition challenging his candidature.

Bhatti’s opponent, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) candidate Babar Suhail, moved the petition challenging his candidature. An election tribunal of the Lahore High Court rejected Suhail’s appeal on Dec 8 and allowed Bhatti to contest the election.

Suhail said the university disqualified Bhatti for five years in 2002 when another man was caught taking BA exam in his place. He was arrested and a case was registered against him.

The bench on Wednesday issued notice to Bhatti on petitions by PML-Q candidate Liaquat Abbas Bhatti (NA-103) and Qamar Javed (PP-107). They also challenged his nomination papers on the ground that his degree was fake.