PESHAWAR, Feb 6: The member, Election Commission of Pakistan, Justice Qazi Ahsanullah Qureshi, on Thursday set aside an order of the provincial election commissioner and allowed a candidate of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) to contest for the seats reserved for technocrats in the Senate elections.
Advocate Mohammad Saeed had filed an appeal against the order of the provincial election commissioner Iltaf Khan, who had rejected his nomination papers on the ground that he did not qualify for a technocrat seat.
A panel of lawyers comprising Shakeel Ahmad and Moazzam Jamil, appeared before the member and argued that the appellant was a senior advocate having 22 years of practice. They contended that he was even awarded Presidential award for his services for the profession.
The counsel referred to the judgment of the Supreme Court in Iqbal Zaffar Jhagra’s case, arguing that in the light of that verdict the appellant was competent to fight for the technocrat’s seat.
Notice Issued: A two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court on Thursday issued pre-admission notice to the Naib Amir of Jamaat- i-Islami, professor Khursheed Ahmad, on a writ petition filed by the Awami National Party (ANP), challenging his candidature for the Senate elections, from NWFP.
The petition was filed by provincial president of ANP, Bashir Ahmad Bilour, stating that Prof Khursheed was not a resident of NWFP, therefore his candidature from the province should be declared illegal and against the spirit of the Senate elections.
Advocate, Qazi Mohammad Anwer, appeared for the petitioner and argued that for becoming a voter from an area it was necessary that the candidate should be permanently settled there or should possess domicile of that area. He argued that Prof Khursheed was neither a resident of the NWFP nor he possessed its domicile.
Moreover, he argued that Prof Khursheed had registered himself as a voter from Al-Markaz Islami Colony while he was not residing there.
Mr Anwer pointed out that Prof Khursheed was born in Delhi, acquired his education in Karachi and had presently been residing in Islamabad.
The bench comprising the chief justice of the high court, Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, and Justice Ijazul Hassan, fixed Feb 18 as the date for next hearing.