Election Petition: Fine imposed for non-production of evidence

LHC challengs educational degrees of PML-N member Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor, seeks his disqualification.

LAHORE: An election tribunal of the Lahore High Court imposed a fine of Rs10,000 on Rana Muhammad Tariq for not producing evidence in an election petition he had filed against the provincial minister for food, Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor.

Previously, the tribunal had directed Tariq to produce witnesses before a local commission for recording their statements. He failed to meet the direction. Tariq, a defeated candidate of Pakistan Peoples Party from PP-161, Lahore, has challenged the educational degrees of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz member Ghafoor and sought his disqualification. Ghafoor’s lawyer, Jawad Pasha, argued that the Higher Education Commission, Punjab University and the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Lahore, had verified the minister’s degrees. Pasha had also moved an application for dismissal of petition on the grounds that the documents annexed were not attested. The court adjourned the hearing for January 14.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 25^th, 2010.