SHC puts off plea to bar PPP’s senate candidate

KARACHI
IMDAD SOOMRO

Granting more time to the plaintiff, the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday postponed the hearing of a petition seeking disqualification from the upcoming senate elections of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) woman candidate Sahar Kamran.
Petitioner Yasmin Farukh – another senate candidate on the Pakistan Muslim League-Likeminded ticket – alleged in her plea that Kamran is a government employee and serving as a teacher at a Pakistani school in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The SHC division bench headed by Justice Maqbool Baqar granted more time to the petitioner for filing more arguments and documentary evidence.
According to sources, the PPP’s nominee for senate is the principal of Pakistan International School Jeddah, which is operated under the Government of Pakistan. Kamran has been nominated as a candidate on the reserved seat for women in the Sindh province.
“Kamran is a close friend of slain PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto and had donated a cheque of Rs five million to the president for the Prime Minister’s Flood Relief Fund in November 2011,” the sources said.
The PPP candidate obtained her Master’s degree in mass communication from the University of Karachi (KU). She was the KU president of PPP-backed People’s Students Federation (PSF) during her studies.
In 2010, President Asif Ali Zardari conferred the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz (the country’s fourth highest civilian honour) on Kamran for her excellent services in the field of education.
Meanwhile, the petition filed by Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Rauf Siddiqui against former minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza for his alleged blasphemous comments could not be heard due to shortage of time.