A petition has been submitted to Pakistan’s Supreme Court challenging the rejection of a plea to disqualify former Prime Minister Imran Khan for allegedly hiding his supposed daughter, Tyrian White while filing his nomination papers for the 2018 general elections.
The IHC rejected the petition, citing a prior dismissal by a three-judge bench. Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri stated that the case was already dismissed last year. Petitioner Mohammad Sajid, represented by counsel Saad Mumtaz Hashmi, appealed to the Supreme Court, alleging that the IHC erred in treating the agreement of two judges as the court’s verdict.
The petitioner claimed Khan failed to mention his alleged daughter when filing nomination papers for the Mianwali Constituency Election. Khan only listed his spouse, Bushra Bibi, and two sons abroad, Qasim and Sulaiman. He argued that Khan’s false affidavit made him eligible for disqualification.
The petition confirmed White as Khan’s biological daughter through California’s legal records. On Feb 2, 2023, a single bench referred the case to a three-judge full bench. IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, and Justice Arbab Mohammad Tahir reserved judgment on March 30, 2023.
Before the Chief Justice could deliver his opinion, two other judges’ concurring opinion was uploaded on the IHC website, stating the petition’s dismissal by a two-to-one majority. The Chief Justice then ordered an inquiry and the removal of the judges’ opinion from the website, as it shouldn’t have been uploaded before the judgment’s announcement.
On May 10, 2023, the CJ recused himself from the case, ordering the opinion of two judges to be sealed. The matter was then scheduled before a full bench to decide afresh. However, on May 21, 2024, the full bench dismissed the petition instead of hearing it anew, as claimed by the petitioner.
The petitioner argued that the opinions of two judges on the website didn’t constitute a judgment, contesting the dismissal of his petition without a new hearing. He emphasized that the IHC full bench was not obligated by the agreement of two judges in the previous hearing.
Imran Khan‘s PTI party secured victory in the 2018 general elections, leading the former cricketer-turned-politician to serve as the prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 until April 2022.
