Haleem Adil Sheikh’s nomination papers rejected

KARACHI: The returning officer (RO) of NA-238 Karachi rejected the nomination papers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Haleem Adil Sheikh on Tuesday, ARY News reported.

The nomination papers were rejected after three residents of the constituency, NA-238 Karachi, filed objections against Haleem Adil Sheikh.

The objections noted that the PTI leader was involved in May 9 riots – the events wherein military installations were attacked following the arrest of party supremo Imran Khan.

Meanwhile, Adil’s lawyer announced the challenge the RO’s decision in Sindh High Court (SHC).

The election process entered its second phase with the returning officers (ROs) embarking upon the weeklong task of scrutinising the thousands of nomination papers filed during December 22-24 period for the National Assembly and the four provincial assemblies.

The process of scrutiny of the nomination papers would continue until December 30 after which the candidates could challenge the decisions of the returning officers, if any, in appellate tribunals until January 3, 2024, which would be decided by January 10, according to the election schedule.

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Sunday was the last day of the extended deadline for filing the nomination papers. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) released the data of papers, which showed that the number of candidates in this election is the highest ever in the country.

Overall 28,626 candidates for both national and provincial assemblies submitted their nomination papers – 7,913 for the 266 general seats of the National Assembly and 18,546 for the 593 general seats of the four provincial assemblies.

The numbers are way more than filed in the 2018 general elections. In the previous election five year ago a total of 21,482 nomination papers were submitted, including 5,473 for the general seats of the National Assembly.