LAHORE: Mother of Barrister Hassaan Niazi, a nephew of former prime minister Imran Khan, on Wednesday filed a petition in the Lahore High Court, seeking permission for her son to file his nomination papers for the upcoming general election.

Petitioner Ms Noreen Niazi contended through a lawyer that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has announced the election schedule and her son wanted to contest the polls as he was neither disqualified nor convicted.

However, she said her son was currently in the custody of military authorities, alleging he had been denied permission to sign his nomination papers. The petitioner asked the court to grant permission to Hassan Niazi to complete the process of filing nomination papers.

She also urged the court to order an oath commissioner to meet her son and verify the nomination papers’ authenticity and signatures.

In August, the government had told the LHC that Barrister Niazi had been handed over to the military authorities for his trial in a case of attack on Jinnah House, which also serves as corps commander house, during the May 9 riots.

Barrister Niazi was arrested from Abbottabad almost four months after he went into hiding to avoid arrest in cases of May 9 riots.

Published in Dawn, December 21st, 2023