The Lahore High Court (LHC) upheld the Election Appellate Tribunal’s decision rejecting the appeals of PTI founder Imran Khan and other party leaders regarding the rejection of their nomination papers by the returning officers (ROs) for the upcoming general elections, as reported by ARY News.
The former prime minister had submitted nomination papers from NA-122 Lahore and NA-89 Mianwali, both of which were rejected by the respective ROs. Despite contesting these decisions before the election appellate tribunals, Imran Khan’s appeals, along with those of 60 other PTI leaders, were dismissed.
Imran Khan, along with Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Pervaiz Elahi, and others, had filed writ petitions against the tribunal’s decisions, seeking relief from the larger LHC bench. However, today’s announcement by the three-member LHC bench, headed by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, upheld the decision to reject the nomination papers.
The court’s ruling not only affects Imran Khan but also has implications for other PTI candidates, including Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Fawad Chaudhry. With the rejection of the appeals, PTI candidates are now set to contest the elections independently with different electoral symbols, and the party loses the right to reserved seats for women and minorities. This outcome deals a significant blow to PTI’s aspirations for the upcoming general elections.
