KARACHI, Dec 13: Ghulam Murtaza Jatoi and Masroor Jatoi of the National People’s Party were cleared for contesting election from their respective Naushahro Feroze constituencies whereas Pir Mazharul Haq of the Pakistan People’s Party was declared ineligible to contest the polls by two separate election tribunals hearing appeals on Thursday.

Murtaza Jatoi is a candidate for NA-211, Masroor Jatoi for NA-212 and PS-23, and Pir Mazharul Haq was a PPP aspirant for PS-74 (Dadu).

The Jatois were challenged for lacking education and for default by their rival candidate, Zulfiqar Baihan of the PPP.

After hearing extensive arguments from both sides that continued till about 8.30pm, and examining the Sindh University record, the tribunal comprising Justices Nadeem Azhar Siddiqui and Rana M. Shamim of the Sindh High Court dismissed the appeal against them.

Meanwhile, another tribunal, consisting of Justices Khwaja Naveed Ahmed and Khalid Ali Z. Qazi, held that appellant Pir Mazharul Haq was a convict on the date of filing his nomination papers and the returning officer rightly rejected them. The subsequent acquittal by the Supreme Court could not operate retrospectively to qualify him on the date of filing or of scrutiny of papers.

The candidate was disqualified for the 2002 contest on the same ground. He was convicted by an accountability court under the Ehtesab Ordinance, 1997, and his appeal against his conviction was accepted by the Supreme Court on Dec 10. The appellant’s counsel, Adnan Karim, said he would file a writ petition to seek appropriate relief.

The tribunal also dismissed an appeal by Zulfiqar Yunus, a candidate for PS-90 (Karachi), who submitted that his original academic certificates were stolen from his car to prevent him from contesting the poll.

The tribunal observed that the appeal challenged the returning officer’s decision to reject the candidate’s papers for his failure to produce original documents. There was no infirmity in the RO’s order as he acted in accordance with the law and rules. The RO could not take into consideration the reason behind the non-production of original documents. Neither the tribunal had authority to condone the non-production of the requisite documents, whatever the reason.

The other tribunal comprising Justices Nadeem Azhar Siddiqui and Rana M. Shamim, meanwhile, allowed an appeal by Ali Mohammad, a candidate for PS-21 (Naushahro Feroze). His papers were rejected due to the absence of his seconder at the time of filing of his nomination.

The tribunal declared that the signature of the seconder and his subsequent appearance were sufficient for the acceptance of his papers.

By another order, the tribunal held that the United Bank Limited was a private concern and its employees were not disqualified from contesting the poll. The ruling came in two appeals moved by Siraj Ahmad Khan, a candidate for PS-2 and NA-191 (Sukkur), whose nomination was rejected when his opponents raised an objection that being a UBL employee he was ineligible to contest the polls.

Advocate Saifullah, the appellant’s counsel, submitted that the bank had been privatized and its employees did not fall in the category of civil servants.

The tribunal summoned a UBL representative, who stated that the federal government had only 19.7 per cent shares in the bank and two nominees on the seven-member board of directors. The government no longer had controlling shares and the bank was privately run and managed.

Appeals against a PML (Q) candidate from NA-204 and NA-207 (Larkana) were dismissed by the tribunal. He was alleged to be an employee of the transport department by his rival but he produced his resignation letter and maintained that it was accepted two years ago.