Sharif barred from contesting polls, Lahore HC says he’s been convicted

Sharif had been barred from running in the February elections because of convictions related to his ouster in a 1999 coup. But earlier this month, Pakistan’s election commission effectively cleared him to run in the bypolls scheduled for Thursday after a tribunal it set up to adjudicate the matter failed to reach a consensus.

However, a candidate and a voter from the Lahore constituency Sharif had planned to contest subsequently petitioned the High Court to bar his candidacy.

On Monday, a three member bench of the court disqualified him because of his conviction, according to Sharif spokesman Pervez Rasheed. Sharif would appeal the verdict, he said.