KARACHI, April 9: Five more appeals against the rejection of nomination papers filed by as many appellants came up for hearing on Tuesday in the election tribunal set up in the Sindh High Court in the city.

The three-member election tribunal comprising Justices Faisal Arab, Ghulam Sarwar Korai and Munib Akhtar issued notices to the Election Commission of Pakistan and the respective returning officers who rejected the nomination papers of the appellants.

Earlier on Monday, four candidates had filed appeals in the election tribunal against the rejection of their nomination papers. They were Haji Allah Bux Nizamani (Sanghar NA-234), Nasarullah (Karachi East PS-125), Rameezul Haq Zahoor (Thatta PS-86) and Syed Karam Darvesh (Karachi West NA-241).

On Tuesday, Taufeeq Ali, a candidate of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf whose nomination papers for the provincial assembly seat PS-110 were rejected by the returning officer concerned on the grounds that the appellant was a defaulter on the dues of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, filed an appeal against the rejection.

Another appellant, Syed Muhammed Farooq, whose candidature for the National Assembly seat NA-254), was rejected because he had not produced his original computerised national identity card (CNIC) along with his nomination papers. Besides, he did not mention his occupation in the papers.

Appellant Mohammed Bukhsh Panhwar, whose nomination papers for the provincial assembly seat in Dadu (PS-75) were rejected by the returning officer concerned, was also found defaulter on a utility bill.

The bench admitted the elections appeals for regular hearing and issued notice to the respondent returning officers and the ECP for April 12 and 13.

As per the schedule, the appeals against rejection or acceptance of the nomination papers will be disposed of by the two tribunals in the province by April 16.

Scrutiny results Earlier during scrutiny, nomination papers of 1,619 out of 2,007 candidates contesting 61 general seats of the National Assembly in Sindh were found valid, while returning officers rejected the documents of 388 candidates in all.

Besides, 5,213 candidates filed nomination papers for 130 general seats in the Sindh Assembly. After scrutiny nomination papers of 1,067 were rejected for want of documents and eligibility, leaving 4,146 candidates in the field.

Earlier, the lists of candidates whose nomination papers were accepted for 14 seats reserved for women in the National Assembly as well as for 29 and nine seats reserved for women and non-Muslims, respectively, in the Sindh Assembly were also notified.

For the 14 national assembly seats of women, a total of 57 candidates are in the run, including 15 of the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians, 15 Muttahida Qaumi Movement, seven of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, three of the PML-Functional, seven of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, three of the All Pakistan Muslim League, one of the National Peoples Party, five of the Jamaat-i-Islami and one of the Sindh United Party.

Similarly, for the 29 seats reserved for women in the Sindh Assembly, as many as 126 candidates of different parties are aspiring to return.

The highest number of women candidates is 27 from the PPP, followed by 26 from the MQM. Besides, 12 PML-F candidates, 10 PML candidates, 11 JI candidates, six Peoples Muslim League candidates, five APML candidates, five PML-Sindh candidates, four NPP candidates, five PTI, four Awami National Party, five SUP, two QAT, one MDM and two PPP-Shaheed Bhutto candidates are contesting reserved seats in the provincial assembly.

Similarly, nominations of 53 candidates have been accepted for nine seats reserved for non-Muslim in the Sindh Assembly. Twelve of them belong to the PPPP and 10 to the MQM. Seven PML-F candidates, five PML-N candidates, four candidates of the Peoples Muslim League and the JI each, three PTI candidates, two NPP, three SUP candidates, two QAT and one JUI-F candidate are in the run for the seats reserved for non-Muslims.