ISLAMABAD, Jan 11: The Supreme Court is likely to take up on Friday a petition against Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) president Qazi Hussain Ahmed for allegedly selling party tickets for last Senate elections and approving disproportional nominations against the number of vacant seats.

The accusations were levelled by Shahid Orakzai through a challenge against the order of the Peshawar High Court, which had dismissed his earlier petition on Nov 14, 2006. In the appeal, the petitioner accused that Qazi Hussain approved disproportionate nominations and awarded 10 party tickets to different candidates against seven vacant seats thus causing a room for horse-trading during the elections held in March last year.

The ratio of issuance of party tickets was far higher than the MMA's representation in the NWFP assembly which was the Electoral College to elect senators from the Frontier province, he alleged.

He accused that the MMA president sold one party ticket for Rs150 million to a candidate who later won the election and now an incumbent Senator from the NWFP.

Earlier, the high court was asked to intervene and prevent the wrong by ousting the unqualified runner from the race much before the polling but for reasons unknown, it did not hear the matter in time, he contended.