September 2, 2002	Monday	Jamadi-us-Saani23,1423

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ISLAMABAD, Sept 1: The Election Commission has redirected the appeal of Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf candidate from NA 48 (Islamabad-Urban) to election tribunal to decide whether the PPP (People’s Party Parliamentarian) candidate fulfilled the condition of “enjoying good moral character.”

Ahmad Raza Qasuri, PTI candidate from NA 48 had challenged the order of returning officer, accepting the nomination papers of PPP to the Chief Election Commissioner when the election tribunal had not been notified.

An official of the Election Commission told Dawn that since the election tribunals have been notified, the petition has been redirected to the tribunal for deciding it in accordance with law.

The PTI candidate is seeking disqualification of PPP candidate for being an accused in number of criminal cases registered in different police stations of Rawalpindi. The courts have refused to disqualify any person on the allegation that he did not fulfil the conditions laid down in Article 62 of the constitution.

The supreme court judgment on the appeal of Raja Afzal versus Chaudhry Altaf is generally regarded as authoritative pronouncement on the subject.

Chaudhry Altaf, ex-governor Punjab, had won the case from Lahore High Court against his rival, Raja Afzal after establishing that his opponent had been nominated in about 100 cases of fraud and impersonation. The Supreme Court, however, overturned the judgment of LHC, ruling that mere registration of a case was not enough to get somebody disqualified.

The PTI candidate, however, claims to be in possession of a recent ruling of the Supreme Court in which the apex court upheld the high court ruling on the petition of candidate for Nazim whose nomination papers were rejected for being an accused. The PTI candidate says that a case was registered against Babar Awan in the Sadiaqabad Police Station Rawalpindi vide FIR No 5, by Sheikh Iftikhar Adil, Editor-in-Chief, The Daily Asas, the Daily Lashkar and the Weekly Iftikhar Asia.