Toshakhana reference: Disqualification meant for Imran Khan or CEC?

Senior analyst Shabbir Hussain said that the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) has become confused as under the Election Act, if there is to be a criminal proceeding against Imran Khan, it should be done after 2018 because the nomination papers were filed at a time when the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief was not the prime minister.

On Friday, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had disqualified Imran Khan in the Toshakhana reference. the detailed verdict was issued on Saturday evening with the signature of all five members, although the initial verdict was issued on the first day. The signature of one of the ECP members was not present in the initial verdict.

Khan was disqualified for corrupt practices under Article 63-1P.

Senior journalist and analyst Shabbir Hussain has done a post-mortem of the detailed verdict of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

He said that Imran Khan was disqualified under Article 63-1P, which means he will be disqualified only for the term of the current assembly, i.e. he has been disqualified until August 23, 2023, the last day of the current assembly.

According to the ECP verdict, Imran Khan was disqualified only for the seat that he won in 2018, adding that Imran Khan has resigned from this seat.

Analysing the ECP verdict, Hussain said that recently he won six National Assembly (NA) seats in the by-elections, and it will be the commission that will issue the notification of his success.

“The same ECP will issue a notification of PTI chief’s success on NA seats in the next few days that had declared him ineligible on Friday. This is because Imran Khan contested the by-elections on the current declaration.”

While discussing the legal points, he said that Imran Khan has been disqualified under 63-1P and the criminal proceedings will be started under Articles 137 and 170. Both of these articles apply when you submit nomination papers for an election. While Imran Khan has been disqualified on the basis of 2019 declaration which he had submitted as his annual returns.

Shabbir Hussain said, “I think that the CEC is confused. When Imran Khan submitted his nomination papers in 2018, he linked it with the 2019 declaration which is completely wrong under the Election Act. If there is a criminal proceeding going against Imran Khan, it should be initiated over 2018 because the nomination paper was filed at that time when the PTI chief was not the prime minister. Therefore, the Toshakhana reference was not even applicable to him.”

He suggested CEC to read the verdict properly on Monday, otherwise, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) will read it to him as the hearing is fixed on Monday.