LAHORE, Sept 1: The nomination papers of Begum Kulsoom Nawaz for NA-120 were rejected on Sunday.

Returning Officer Mustafa Tanveer Safwat rejected the papers on the ground that the authority letter in favour of proposer/ nominee Haji Arshad Mahmood, had not been attested by the Consulate-General in Jiddah.

At the start of scrutiny, the RO said that Begum Kulsoom had authorized Arshad Mahmood under her own signatures to file the papers. “The attestation is not according to law, therefore, her papers stand rejected”.

Kulsoom’s counsel Ashtar Ausaf Ali contended that her nomination papers had been sent to the Consulate in Jiddah which issued an acknowledgment. He said the scrutiny should be deferred till the papers were returned by the consulate after attestation.

The plea was dismissed on the ground that the anomaly was pointed out at the time of filing of papers. There had been nothing on record that Begum Kulsoom herself signed the nomination papers and authorized her nominee in writing to submit the papers on her behalf.

A voter from NA-120 also raised objection that Begum Kulsoom has neither signed the papers nor these were verified by a competent authority.

Muhammad Farooq also challenged the authority letter issued in favour of her proposer/ nominee which had not been attested by a competent authority.

The RO had earlier cleared the papers of Shahbaz Sharif and Kulsoom Nawaz with the observation that these would deemed to have been verified by consulate general. The consulate’s acknowledgment was sufficient to establish that papers had been tendered and accepted as such.

Begum Kulsoom is the first member of the Sharif family whose papers have been rejected. Her nomination papers for NA-119 and 122 have been accepted. She can file an appeal before the Lahore High Court appellate bench till September 6 against the rejection of her papers.

A large number of PML-N workers remained at the courtroom during the scrutiny.