March 12, 2008	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 3, 1429

KARACHI, March 11: The Sindh High Court on Tuesday allowed PPP candidates Mirza Ikhtiar Beg (NA-250) and Syed Najmi Alam (PS-112) and PML-N nominee Salim Zia (PS-113) to withdraw their constitutional petitions as they have sought their remedy from competent legal forum.

They had challenged the election of MQM candidates Khushbakht Shujaat, Advocate Muqeem Alam, and Syed Askari Taqvi, from the three Karachi constituencies.

They had earlier sought a stay against the winning contestants’ notification by the election commission but the request was declined.

Justices Azizullah M. Memon and Arshad Noor Khan, who constituted the bench that heard the petitions, passed an order saying that any notification issued by the commission would be subject to the final outcome of the proceedings.

Hearing adjourned

The hearing of candidate Mir Hasan Khoso of the Pakistan People’s Party against the election of Dr Sohrab Sarki of the PML-Q from PS-15 (Jacobabad) was, meanwhile, adjourned to March 14.

The petition moved by PPP’s Abdul Habib Memon against the election of Dr Farooq Sattar of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) was also adjourned to March 14.

The hearing of PPP nominee Ghulam Qadir Malkani’s petition against the election of Mohammad Ali Malkani of the PML-Q from PS-87 (Thatta) was adjourned till Wednesday by another bench consisting of Chief Justice Mohammad Afzal Soomro and Justice Pir Ali Shah.

The bench also seized of petitions against the election of the PML-Q candidates, Mir Ghalib Domki, and Sardar Abid Sundrani, from PS-17 and PS-18 (Kashmore).

Meanwhile, the bench comprising Justices A.M. Memon and A. N. Khan would announce its judgments on the petitions moved by NA candidate

Dr Mujahid Baloch and four provincial assembly candidates belonging to the MQM against the Pakistan People’s Party and the Awami National Party (ANP) nominees on Wednesday.

Pre-arrest bail

The Sindh High Court confirmed the pre-arrest bail granted to the former provincial minister for power and irrigation, Nadir Akmal Khan Leghari.

Mr Leghari, who was a PML-Q Sindh Assembly candidate from Ghotki, was accused by his rival of firing Kalashnikov bursts at a police station at 4.30pm on February 18 killing two persons.

Advocate Iqtidar Ali Hashmi, his counsel, argued that Mr Leghari had been implicated in the case on account of political rivalry.

According to the presiding officer of the polling station concerned, the balloting continued there undisturbed till 5pm, which could not have been possible after the alleged firing incident and death of two persons. The counsel pointed out that the allegation was investigated and the police transferred his name from the list of the accused to the FIR’s column two, meant for persons not sent up for trial. Since there was no case against Mr Leghari, he was entitled to bail as a matter of right, the counsel submitted.