ECP disqualified Imran for five years: law minister

Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar on Friday said that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had disqualified Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan for five years.

Addressing a press conference along with Special Assistant to Prime Minister for Anti-Narcotics Ataullah Tarar and Member of National Assembly Mohsin Shah Nawaz Ranjha, the minister said that the ECP had also asked to take criminal action against Imran Khan because he (Imran) lied before the Election Commission.

He said that Imran “took gifts from abroad and sold them and now he should face the law.”

Tarar said that first the former prime minister’s “prohibited funding was caught and now his theft has been ‘exposed’.”

The law minister said that the ECP showed patience in its decision against Imran. PTI members were shouting about injustice even though injustice happened when the law did not cover anything, he added.

He said that as an elected representative of the people, returns had to be submitted while filing the nomination papers by the candidates before the elections, and after the elections, returns had to be submitted every year.

He added that the elected representatives had been bound to submit their returns by December 31, every year.

He said that Imran did not disclose the gifts received abroad in his returns for the years 2019, 2020 and 2021 as he was afraid that “if he disclosed these gifts in returns, his dishonesty would be exposed and the public would question him about this fact”.

He said the ECP had disqualified him and also asked to take criminal action against him because “Imran Khan lied before the Election Commission”.

He said that there was documentary evidence against the former premier.