KARACHI, Dec 6: The Election Tribunal, Karachi, on Friday ordered the National Database and Registration Authority to carry out verification of thumb impressions of voters on entire ballots in a provincial assembly seat (PS-29) in Khairpur won by Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah.

The tribunal, headed by a former judge of the Sindh High Court Zafar Ahmed Khan Sherwani, allowed the application of Syed Ghous Ali Shah, a leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, for thumbprints verification and directed the applicant to deposit the fee for the exercise.

The tribunal also allowed another application of the PML-N leader, also a former chief minister of Sindh, for verification of thumbprints of all voters on ballots in the NA-215, a National Assembly seat in Khairpur bagged by PPP candidate Nawab Ali Wassan.

Ghous Ali Shah moved the tribunal through separate elections petitions challenging the victory of the PPP candidates on the provincial and national assemblies’ seats in his hometown.

The tribunal had earlier reserved its orders on the two applications of Ghous Ali Shah and as many filed by Qaim Ali Shah and Nawab Ali Wassan after hearing arguments from the two sides.

The PPP MPA and MNA through their applications before the tribunal had challenged the maintainability of the elections petitions against their victory.

On Friday, the tribunal also dismissed the two applications of Qaim Ali Shah and Nawab Wassan and ruled that the election petitions against them were maintainable in the tribunal.

The election petitions against the chief minister and the PPP MNA were initially filed in the Election Tribunal, Sukkur, headed by former district and sessions judge Zaheerudin Leghari. The two PPP men moved the SHC through constitutional petitions against the tribunal expressing no-confidence in the head of the tribunal. They said that Mr Leghari was ‘biased’ for being a ‘mureed’ (disciple) of the Pir Pagara, the chief of the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional, an ally of the PML-N.

The SHC had also restrained the Sukkur election tribunal from proceeding with the election petitions against the PPP legislators and later the Election Commission of Pakistan shifted the petitions to Karachi election tribunal.

The election tribunal would resume the hearing of the election petitions against the two PPP men on Dec 16.

Meanwhile, the tribunal adjourned the hearing of an election petition of Shahnawaz Khan Talpur against the victory of PPP’s Manzoor Wassan after the cross-examination of the petitioner.

The bench put off the hearing of the case to Dec 16 when more witnesses would be examined.