LAHORE, Oct 3: The Lahore High Court on Monday disqualified three candidates contesting for a similar number of seats reserved for peasants in the Gujrat district council.

Accepting appeals against the decision of the returning officer and the district returning officer, Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed disqualified Mian Arshad Hayat, the brother of Punjab ex-caretaker chief minister Mian Afzal Hayat, and Justice Mohammad Muzammil Khan disallowed Chaudhry Ijaz Ahmad and Chaudhry Mohammad Ashraf Rehania to contest for peasants seats.

Mian Ansar Pervaiz Tahir was the appellant in all the three petitions moved through S.M.Masood and barrister Ghazanfar Ali Gul. He contended that none of the three candidates was qualified to contest as two of them had big land holdings and the third candidate was an industrialist.

According to the appellant, Mian Arshad Hayat and his family were one of the biggest landlords of the district and Chaudhry Ashraf was also a big landlord. As for Chaudhry Ijaz Ahmad, the petitioner contended, he was an industrialist and was the vice-president of the Gujrat Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

His counsel stated that election rules qualified a person as a peasant if he possessed less than five acres.