February 7, 2003	Friday	Zul Hijjah 5,1423

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PESHAWAR, Feb 6: A two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court upheld here on Thursday the disqualification of Swabi Nazim Sher Zaman Sher by an election tribunal and ordered re-election for the office.

The bench, comprising Justice Nasirul Mulk and Justice Ijazul Hassan, dismissed the writ petition of Mr Sher, who had challenged his disqualification by the tribunal.

The bench also dismissed petition of the rival candidate, Mr Jehanzeb Khan, praying the court that he should be declared successful as Nazim after the disqualification of Mr Sher.

Another petition filed by the district Naib Nazim, Mr Jamil Khan, requesting the court that he should not be disqualified along with the Nazim, was sent by the bench to the chief justice of the high court for decision by a larger bench.

The court directed that till the re-election the Naib Nazim should act as acting Nazim.

An election tribunal had disqualified the petitioner, Mr Sher, on Nov 28 last from holding the office of Nazim on the ground that he had produced fake degree of the secondary school certificate. Under the NWFP Local Governments Elections Ordinance, 2000, it is mandatory for a Nazim to produce a secondary school degree.

Advocate Aamir Jawed had appeared for the petitioner and argued that the petitioner had cleared the secondary school examination and should not be victimised.

The rival candidate had claimed that the petitioner had produced a degree according to which he had cleared the examination in 1967. However, he claimed that according to the record of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education he had failed in English and general science subjects.

The tribunal had accepted the petition as an official of the board had also confirmed that the petitioner was declared ‘failed’ in the two subjects and had not cleared the exam.