IMRAN KHAN’S ELIGIBILITY TO CONTEST POLLS UNDER THREAT

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry has said he will challenge cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan’s eligibility to hold public office under Article 62 of the Constitution over allegations that he fathered a love child.

Chaudhry, now president of the Pakistan Justice and Democratic Party, said during an interview with a TV news channel on Sunday that he has evidence to show Khan had admitted to being the father of Tyrian White, the daughter of late British socialite Sita White, while abroad, but denied the same in Pakistan.

He said his party will file objections against Khan’s nomination papers before the relevant returning officer.

Article 62 of the Constitution states that candidates contesting elections must be of good character and honest and righteous. These provisions have been used to oust leaders such as former premier Nawaz Sharif from office.

Khan, who heads the Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf party, has long faced accusations of being the father of Tyrian, believed to be 26. A US court in declared in 1997 that Khan was the father after he failed to contest a paternity suit filed by Sita. Khan had also refused to provide DNA samples.

Chaudhry said there is legal precedent for politicians to be disqualified for dishonesty under Article 62. He said he received documents which confirm the parentage of Tyrian, and that he believes Khan could not be considered “sadiq” and “ameen” (honest and righteous) in terms of the Constitutional article.