KARACHI, Dec 14: A Sindh High Court election tribunal cleared all but one candidate for the hotly-contested Badin national and provincial assembly constituencies NA-225 and PS-57 after day-long proceedings.

The tribunal, which consisted of Justices Khwaja Naveed Ahmed and Khalid Ali Z. Qazi, held that PPP national assembly candidate Dr Zulfiqar Mirza was disqualified for having been declared an absconder by an anti-terrorism court in the murder case of Sajjad Hussain, former chairman of the Pakistan Steel Mills. He was a co-accused along with former federal minister Asif Ali Zardari in the case.

A fugitive from the law could not contest the polls, the tribunal observed while allowing an appeal by the PML-Q’s Shujaat Ali Shah, a covering candidate for Syed Ali Bakhsh Shah, for NA-225.

Another appeal against Dr Zulfiqar Mirza and his wife, Dr Fahmida Mirza, who is a candidate from both the NA and PA seats, was dismissed. The appellant had alleged that they were directors and shareholders of the Mirza Sugar Mills, which was a defaulter of bank loans to the tune of over Rs1.5 billion.

The creditor banks informed the tribunal that they had gone into execution against the judgment debtors. The bench observed that the matter required adjudication by an appropriate forum and the appellant was free to raise it by a post-election petition should Dr Fahmida Mirza win the poll.

Appeals moved by Dr Fahmida Mirza against Syed Ali Bakhsh Shah, alias Pappu Shah, and his wife, Sen Yasmin Shah, against the authenticity of their graduation degrees were dismissed by a short order.