The nomination papers of former premier Nawaz Sharif's brother Shahbaz Sharif for Pakistan's January 8 elections were rejected by authorities in Lahore [Images] on Saturday citing pending criminal charges.

A question mark also hung over Sharif's plans to contest the parliamentary polls, with the district judge, who is the returning officer, set to decide on objections to his candidacy on December 3.

Shahbaz's lawyer Imtiaz Kaifi said his nomination papers for elections to the national and provincial assemblies were rejected in connection with the extra-judicial killings of five students in 1998 when he was Punjab's chief minister.

Kaifi, however, said there were no legal grounds for the rejection of the papers as Shahbaz had not been convicted and was not a proclaimed absconder.

Three objections were filed against Shahbaz's nominations for alleged involvement in the killings, defaulting on loans, and a contempt of court case in the Supreme Court.

A case was registered against Shahbaz in January 2001 by the father of one of the five students who were allegedly killed in a staged gunbattle with police in the Sabza Zar area.

Shahbaz was accused of ordering the killing of the students. The case is now being heard by a special anti-terrorism court in Lahore.

Khwaja Tahir Zia, who has filed nominations from the same constituency as Sharif, has filed an objection to his candidature on the grounds that he was convicted and given a life imprisonment term in a hijacking case in 2000.