PETITION ON DISQUALIFICATION OF IMRAN KHAN: WHAT IS HAPPENING IN PAKISTAN?

A petition has been filed in Lahore High Court seeking disqualification of Prime Minister Imran Khan over his "anti-judiciary" remarks on the departure of his political rival Nawab Sharif to London for medical treatment.

Tahir Maqsood, a Pakistani citizen, in the petition said Khan criticized senior judges of the Supreme Court which amounts to contempt of court.

Referring conviction of PML-N leaders Talal Chaudhry and Nehal Hashmi, Maqsood requested the apex court to summon Khan in person, disqualify him and order the Election Commission to de-notify him as member of the National Assembly.

Khan recently criticized the Lahore High Court for overruling his monetary condition on granting permission to Sharif for flying abroad and asked Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa and his successor to "restore the public's trust in the judiciary."

"I do not want to comment on the particular case of Nawaz Sharif, which the prime minister had referred to but he (the prime minister) will be aware that he himself gave Nawaz permission to go abroad. The premier should refrain from making such statements...Don't compare us with the judiciary which had existed before 2009," Khosa said in response.

Following Khan's remarks, Sharif's party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) declared him mentally unfit. "As your performance is zero you (Khan) have become mentally unstable and a liability of this country."