Election tribunal to hear PTI MPA disqualification case tomorrow. PHOTO: FILE
An election tribunal on Monday scheduled the hearing of a petition seeking the disqualification of a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) provincial parliamentarian for Wednesday.
The petition was filed by former member of provincial assembly (MPA) Ziaullah Shah against PTI MPA from PP-11 Raja Rashid Hafeez on the grounds that the latter had allegedly concealed assets and had defaulted on loans.
Shah alleged that Hafeez had defaulted on Rs4.8 million worth of loans from Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited and concealed details of foreign currency banks accounts belonging to him and his wife.
Shah also told Judge Waameq Javed that Hafeez had concealed his ownership of two companies — M/s Rabi Associates and M/s Raja Rashid Hafeez and Co — in his nomination papers.
Hafeez denied the allegations levelled against him, saying that Shah had suffered a defeat in the May 11 general elections and had approached the tribunal in a last-ditch bid to get his seat back.
He added that under the law, petitions against elected candidates can be filed within 45 days of the official gazette’s publication. “It is not within the applicant’s mandate to request bank statements of the winning candidate’s spouse,” he added.
Hafeez said he was once a partner in a CNG station that defaulted and was converted into a commercial plaza after he had already disassociated himself from the station’s ownership.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 3rd, 2013.
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