LG polls: LHC seeks details of offices held by Khawaja Hassaan

LAHORE:

Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday directed the Punjab government to submit the record of all offices previously held by Khawaja Ahmad Hassaan.

Justice Shahid Karim was hearing a petition filed by Aziz Masood, a voter from UC-107. Petitioner’s counsel Sheraz Zaka told the court that Hassaan had held the office of LDA vice chairman. “He was also a director of the Lahore Waste Management Company. Section 27 of the Local Government Act 2013 states that a person who is in the service of a statutory body controlled by a provincial government is not eligible to contest a local government election before the lapse of two years. The returning officer accepted Hassaan’s nomination without first ruling on the objection,” he said.

Hassaan’s counsel said that the objection had not been raised before the returning officer during the scrutiny of nomination papers. He said that the petition was not maintainable.

A deputy attorney general stated that the returning officer was bound to hold summary proceedings on the objections raised against any candidate.

The judge adjourned the hearing till November 5 and directed the provincial government to submit the record of posts held by Hassaan.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 4^th, 2015.