PESHAWAR, Sept 7: Dismissing an appeal of former Maj-Gen Zaheerul Islam Abbasi, an election tribunal here on Saturday upheld the rejection of his nomination papers by the returning officer.
The tribunal, comprising Justice Abdur Rauf Lughmani and Justice Ijaz Afzal of the Peshawar High court, ruled that the appellant was sentenced to seven-year imprisonment and was also dismissed from service due to which he stood disqualified from contesting elections under the Conduct of General Election Order, 2002.
Mr Abbasi, who was sentenced for plotting a coup, had filed nomination papers for NA-17 (Abbottabad) and NA-19 (Haripur). His nomination papers were rejected for NA-19, whereas for the other constituency his papers were accepted. While Mr Abbasi challenged rejection of his papers for NA-19, another candidate for NA-17, Bashir Khan, has challenged acceptance of his papers for that constituency.
Habib Wahabul Khairi app-eared for the appellant and contended that Mr Abbasi was a patriotic citizen and was awarded Hilal-i-Imtiaz (military) for his services. He said a conspiracy was hatched against him and he was convicted by a court-martial, which was not a proper court constituted under the Constitution and ordinary laws of the land.
Mr Khairi contended that simple conviction did not debar any candidate from contesting polls as under the law only that conviction matters which was awarded for corrupt practices, moral turpitude or misuse of power. In the case of Mr Abbasi, he added, he was not convicted for an offence which comprised moral turpitude or misconduct. Moreover, he said his dismissal from service was also not on those grounds.
APPEAL DISMISSED: The tribunal dismissed an appeal of Umar Ayub Khan, son of Gohar Ayub, against the acceptance of nomination papers of Ghulam Nabi, a Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal candidate for NA-19 (Haripur).
The appellant contended that Ghulam Nabi had not properly submitted income tax returns. Moreover, he claimed, the MMA candidate had also not declared assets of his wife.
Advocates Qazi Mohammad Anwar, Arif Khan and Qaiser Rasheed appeared for Mr Nabi and stated that the appellant had not pointed out any cogent ground on the basis of which the nomination papers of Mr Nabi should be rejected. After their arguments, the appellant did not press his stand and the court dismissed his appeal.
The court adjourned two appeals of Mr Ayub against acceptance of nomination papers of provincial chief of Pakistan Muslim League (N), Pir Sabir Shah and another candidate Sheharyar Khan, to Sept 9, the date when appeals of Mr Nabi against Umar Ayub and Pir Sabir Shah will be taken up for hearing.
APPEALS ACCEPTED: The tribunal accepted various appeals filed by the candidates whose papers were rejected by the returning officers.
Candidates whose appeals were accepted included Shams Khan (NA-8, Charsada), Naveed Akhtar (NA-20, Mansehra), Zar-mali Khan (NA-40 North Waz-iristan Agency), Hayat Moh-ammad Khan (NA-43 Bajaur Agency), Anwar Hussain (NA-44 Bajaur Agency), and Syed Jeha-ngir Shah (NA-33 Upper Dir).