ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) – The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday disqualified Member of the National Assembly Justice (r) Iftikhar Ahmad Cheema for concealing his assets.
A three-judge bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali heard a petition filed by Muslim League – Junejo candidate Ahmed Chattha challenging an earlier verdict by an election tribunal.
Cheema was accused of hiding details of financial assets in his candidacy papers to contest the 2013 elections. Ahmed Chattha had challenged his election and moved the tribunal arguing that he was ineligible to contest the polls.
The petition stated that the PML-N lawmaker hid details regarding his bank accounts and did not submit his income tax records from 2009 to 2013.
PML-N candidate Justice (r) Iftikhar Ahmed Cheema had returned successful from NA-101 in May the general elections by bagging 99,191 votes, while his opponent Ahmed Chattha, son of Hamid Nasir Chattha, had managed to get 59,878 votes.
The apex court also directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to announce the schedule for re-polling in the constituency.
Earlier, the SC on Tuesday ordered verification of votes in Sialkot’s NA-110 constituency, where Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had emerged victorious in the 2013 general elections.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali had taken up an application filed by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) Usman Dar, challenging the election of Asif in NA-110.
Asif had won the NA-110 seat with 92,803 votes, while the PTI’s Usman Dar could manage only 71,525. This was Khawaja Asif’s third consecutive win from the Sialkot National Assembly constituency after 2002 and 2008.
After accepting Dar’s application for hearing, the apex court directed the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) to verify counterfoils and thumb impressions on votes cast in NA-110.
