Pakistan’s former foreign minister and Tehreek-e-Insaf party’s Senior Vice President Shah Mahmood Qureshi has been declared “ineligible” to contest the February 8 general elections by a poll tribunal, a media report said on Sunday. An appellate election tribunal on Saturday rejected Qureshi’s appeal against the rejection of his nomination papers, The News International reported.

While Qureshi was cleared to contest polls from the NA-214 constituency in Sindh’s Umarkot city, the appellate election tribunal turned down his appeal filed against the returning officer’s (RO) decision to reject his nomination papers for two National Assembly and as many Punjab Assembly seats in Multan in Punjab province. Qureshi, 67, is currently lodged in Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi in a cipher case. The former foreign minister had filed nomination papers for NA-150 Multan-III, NA-151 Multan-IV and PP-218, PP-219 constituencies.

Multan High Court Bar Association President Rana Asif Saeed said the election tribunal had rejected Qureshi’s appeal to restore his right to candidacy. The tribunal had declared him “ineligible” to contest the election. Appellate Tribunal Judge Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar delivered the verdict, he said. Earlier, ROs had rejected the nomination papers of Qureshi from NA-150 Multan-III, NA-151 Multan-IV and PP-218, PP-219, and the PTI leader had filed appeals against the rejection of his nomination papers. However, the appellate tribunal had dismissed his appeals.

Meanwhile, the hearing of over 60 appeals continued in the election tribunal, established on the Multan Bench of the Lahore High Court on Saturday. In Lahore, an appellate tribunal held a hearing on an appeal filed against the approval of nomination papers of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif from NA-130. It directed the petitioner to appear before the court till Sunday.