by Wajih Ahmad Sheikh in Dawn, December 8th, 2023
LAHORE: Jailed former prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday petitioned the Lahore High Court challenging his five-year disqualification in the Toshakhana case by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the cancellation of PTI’s party polls held last year.
In the petition, the former prime minister, presently confined at Adiala Jail, said the National Assembly speaker forwarded a reference against Mr Khan in August last year, alleging that he had not declared certain Toshakhana gifts retained in 2018 and 2019 in the statement of assets and liabilities filed before the ECP.
Mr Khan argued that these accusations, raised by political opponents, were unjustly escalated by the speaker to the ECP rather than being dismissed for lack of merit.
In the petition, filed through Barrister Senator Syed Ali Zafar, Mr Khan said the Election Commission, despite his clear explanations for the Toshakhana gifts, illegally de-seated him as an MNA from Mianwali’s NA-95 constituency and directed that a complaint be filed against him under the Elections Act 2017.
He said the ECP also started proceedings to remove him as PTI chairman, though he secured a stay order from the high court.
Alleging malice and ulterior motives, Mr Khan criticised the ECP for instigating baseless legal actions against him under sections 167 and 173 of the Elections Act 2017 before a session court in Islamabad.
He also insisted that the sessions court conducted an illegal trial violating Article 10-A of the Constitution, sentenced him to three years and imposed a Rs100,000 fine.
Mr Khan also argued that he was not an MNA when the Election Commission convicted him without jurisdiction because he did not take the oath after being elected from the NA-45 (Kurram-I) constituency in a by-election held on Oct 30 last year.
He said the ECP issued the impugned notification of his disqualification without giving any notice to him and without a hearing, thus violating the principles of natural justice and due process of law as envisaged in the Constitution.
Mr Khan said that general elections are slated to be held on Feb 8, but the ECP denied his fundamental right to contest elections.
He also accused the ECP of issuing another illegal order on Oct 23, directing the PTI to hold party elections in 20 days.
He had the right to contest the general and intra-party elections, Mr Khan insisted, alleging that an attempt had been made to stop him from being the PTI chairman through an illegal notification.
Mr Khan asked the court to set aside his disqualification for being unlawful so that he could contest the upcoming general elections.
Through a separate petition, the PTI and Imran Khan also challenged the ECP order instructing the party to hold fresh intra-party polls.
The petition asked the LHC to declare that the intra-party elections conducted on June 10, 2022, were valid by the party’s constitution.
Justice Shujaat Ali Khan is set to take up the petitions on Friday (today). https://www.dawn.com/news/1795999/imran-knocks-at-lhcs-door-to-challenge-electoral-ban
