19 May 2004	Wednesday	28 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

PESHAWAR, May 18: The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday sought comments from the Election Commission and the federal government in a writ petition filed by the Pakistan Awami Party (PAP) challenging the presence of 'book' on the list of election symbols.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Nasirul Mulk and Justice Ijaz Afzal also issued notices to the respondents, including the Election Commission of Pakistan and the federal government.

The petition was filed by PAP president Fanoos Gujar after the Oct 2002 elections, saying that the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal had misused its election symbol (book) by portraying as if the symbol of Holy Quran had been allotted to it.

The petitioner said that majority of the voters are illiterate and belong to backward areas so they could be easily deceived.He claimed that during the election campaign the MMA candidates, including Qazi Hussain Ahmad and Maulana Fazlur Rehman, had told voters to vote for Holy Quran.

Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Qazi Abdul Basit feared that the symbol would be again misused in future elections.He requested the court to issue directives to the EC for omitting 'Book' from the election symbols list.