ISLAMABAD: A petition seeking Imran Khan's disqualification as a lawmaker on the grounds that he concealed the existence of his allegedly illegitimate daughter, Tyrian White, while submitting his nomination papers was granted Wednesday by the Islamabad high court.
The request has been planned for hearing on December 20, making this the second such body of evidence against Imran after his contested preclusion by the country's political race bonus in October for supposedly keeping data about his resources and liabilities.
On December 9, the high court sent notice to Imran and the election commission, asking for important information to determine whether the plea seeking the former PM's disqualification as a legislator could be maintained. Last month, the court held off on deciding whether Sajid Mehmood's petition was maintainable.
According to the petition, Imran stated incorrectly in his nomination papers that he had two dependent sons, Sulaiman and Qasim. According to Article 62, "a person shall not be qualified to be elected or chosen as a member of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) unless — he is sagacious, righteous, non-profligate, honest and trustworthy," the plea asks for the issuance of a summons to the former PM to inquire into the reasons for the violation.
The petition asserts that "Imran Khan has deliberately and willfully failed to declare his daughter Tyrian White in the relevant columns of the nomination papers and the affidavit appended thereto." It also states that "he made appropriate arrangements for her but hid the information about her in the nomination papers and affidavit." Imran's daughter was currently residing in London.
According to Article 62, a parliamentarian must be "sadiq and ameen" (honest and righteous). In the Panama Papers case, on July 28, 2017, a five-judge Supreme Court bench disqualified former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif under the same provision.