Pak court adjourns Sharif brothers disqualification case

A Pakistani court has asked a petitioner to establish the maintainability of his plea for disqualifying Prime Minister-elect Nawaz Sharif, incoming Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and senior PML-N senior leader Khwaja Saad Rafiq.
Shahid Orakzai filed the petition in the Lahore High Court, in which he argued that the three PML-N leaders had already been disqualified by the apex court.
He contended that the Sharif brothers and Rafiq were convicted in a case related to an attack on the Supreme Court in 1997 but they did not mention this in their nomination papers for the May 11 polls.
Lahore High Court Chief Justice Umer Ata Bandial yesterday adjourned the case till June 11.

Orakzai said the respondents were not eligible to contest the recent polls and appeals were filed against them in election tribunals but these were dismissed.
The Chief Justice asked Orakzai why he did not challenge the qualification of the respondents and orders of the tribunals before a full bench that heard election-related matters before the general election.

Orakzai, a former close associate of Nawaz Sharif, said a constitutional petition could be filed at any time.
PML-N activists had attacked the Supreme Court during Sharif's last tenure as premier.
Sharif is set to become premier for a record third term after the PML-N won the May 11 general election.