PESHAWAR, April 17: An election tribunal of the Peshawar High Court on Monday sought comments from two newly-elected senators from Bajaur and Mohmand tribal agencies in separate election petitions challenging their elections.
The tribunal observed that after receiving comments, record would be sought from Nadra. The tribunal is headed by Justice Ijazul Hassan.
One of the petitions has been filed by candidateMohammad Ayub against the elected from the Mohmand Agency, Hafiz Rasheed Ahmad, while the other petition was filed by candidate Shah Hussain against senator elected from the Bajaur Agency, Maulana Abdur Rasheed.
Mohammad Ayub alleged that according to the computerised identity card issued by Nadra to Hafiz Rasheed, his date of birth was Sept 25, 1977, adding that the minimum age of a candidate should be 30 years for contesting elections according to the Constitution.
Mr Ayub said that as Hafiz Rasheed was not qualified to contest polls as he was below 30 at the time of filing nomination papers.
The second petition, filed by Shah Hussain, stated that Maulana Abdur Rasheed was an Afghan national, adding that the Maulana Rasheed had contested the polls on the basis of a forged national identity card. He said that Maulana Rasheed was unqualified to contest polls by virtue of his not being a Pakistani national.
Qazi Mohammad Anwer appeared on behalf of both the senators while Malik Qambar Afzal represented the petitioners.
Mr Anwer said that the petitioners had not notified the two respondents (senators) about the petition, which was mandatory under election rules.
The petitioners said that they had sent their petitions to them. Mr Anwer said that all relevant documents should also be provided along with the petitions to the respondents.
The tribunal directed the petitioners to provide all documents to the respondents.
Notices Issued: The election tribunal put on notice two newly elected senators, Ilyas Ahmad Bilour and Azam Swathi, who were elected on seats reserved for technocrats from NWFP.
The notices were issued in two election petitions filed by their rival candidate, Justice Muhammad Azam Khan, who is a leader of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, who lost to them with a margin of only two votes.
In the petition filed against Ilyas Bilour, the petitioner alleged that the Mr Bilour’s Karachi University graduation degree was forged, adding that his masters’ degree that was purported to be issued by the College of Business Administration, affiliated with the Al Khair University, was also bogus.
The petitioner said that during the 1993 Senate elections, Mr Bilour had mentioned in his nomination papers that he had graduated from the Karachi University in 1964, without attaching any degree with his papers. In the 2003 elections, he said, Mr Bilour also mentioned that he completed his graduation in 1969.
He alleged that the principal of the said college, Dr Khalid Naseem, had stated that Mr Bilour never studied in his college. However, Mr Bilour managed to contest 2003 polls and got elected on reserved seats for technocrats. He said that on the basis of same degree, he contested the 2006 Senate polls.
About Azam Swathi, who contested on JUI-F’s ticket, the petitioner challenged his boanfides as a technocrat and said that Mr Swathi possessed dual citizenships of the United States and Pakistan, adding that he had also visited Pakistan on US passport.
He said that Mr Swathi had claimed to be an attorney but he had not practiced law in Pakistan or in the US for the past 20 years.
