Qadir Patel's nomination papers rejected for NA-248

Imran, Shehbaz summoned to court for scrutiny process

KARACHI: Nomination papers of Pakistan Peoples Party candidate Qadir Patel were rejected on Tuesday by the returning officer for incorrectly declaring the value of his gold holdings.

The returning officer also rejected Salim Sachwani's nomination papers for a National Assembly seat, while Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's (PML-N) candidate for the provincial assembly, Chaudhry Nawaz Aulakh's nomination papers were also rejected.

Patel had submitted papers for NA-248 and Sachwani for NA-245.

The returning officer questioned Patel on why he stated in his nomination papers that his wife has 15 tola gold worth Rs150,000.



"I hope gold gets this cheap by God's will," the returning officer commented, asking Patel why the value of 500 yards bungalow in Defence was shown in lacs when plots in Defence cost crores.

Patel was also questioned by the returning officer on non-declaration of foreign currency and other cash amounts.

"It is the apex court's decision that an affidavit has to be submitted. Candidates will be disqualified directly over misstatement," the returning officer said.

Scrutiny process

PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairperson Imran Khan are expected to face each other during an investigation of nomination papers.



The heads of both parties have been summoned to court on June 19 for the scrutiny of their nomination papers. Shehbaz has filed nomination papers from three constituencies of the National Assembly, which includes NA-248, NA-249 and NA-250, while Imran submitted nomination papers from NA-243 and was summoned for June 12. However, upon the PTI lawyers' request for deferment, Imran has now been ordered to appear on June 19.

Pakistan Peoples Party Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has been summoned on June 14 for scrutiny of nomination papers, while Muttahida Quami Movement's Farooq Sattar has been summoned on June 13.

Objections raised
The nomination papers of Imran Khan have been challenged. He had submitted the nomination papers for NA-243.



Advocate Abdul Wahab Baloch submitted an application to the returning officer, claiming that Imran is not accepting Tyria White as his daughter in the Sita White case, hence he should not be allowed to contest the polls.