–Three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Nisar and comprising Justices Bandial and Ijazul Ahsan will hear the case
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday fixed a date for the hearing of a petition seeking Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s disqualification.
The petition will be heard on September 24 by a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Umar Atta Bandial and Justice Ijazul Ahsan.
The petition was filed by Daniyal Chaudhry last year. The petitioner has claimed that the prime minister is not eligible to be a Member of the National Assembly (MNA) under Articles 62 and 63.
Similar petitions have also been filed both in the top court and Islamabad High Court (IHC) in the past seeking the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman’s disqualification.
The case of Imran Khan’s disqualification had begun in 2016 when Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Hanif Abbasi filed a petition against Imran accusing him of money laundering, concealing assets and receiving funds from foreign sources for his party.
In July 2017, Imran with the help of Jemima submitted the money trail; however, Abbasi’s counsel raised the issue of a London flat. The PTI chief ultimately submitted revised documents regarding financial details of offshore company Niazi Services Limited.
Soon after the apex court ruled in favour of Imran Khan.
Earlier on August 2018, Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) senior judge Justice Athar Minallah recused himself from the bench set to hear the latest petition seeking the PM’s disqualification, saying that the petitioner belonged to former chief justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry’s political party, where he [Justice Minallah] had served as a spokesperson.
Petitioner Abdul Wahab Baloch, a candidate for election from NA-53 belonging to the Pakistan Justice and Democratic Party (PJDP) has objected to Khan not declaring his ‘daughter’ Tyrian in the nomination papers.