Tribunal Verdict: Transgender candidate back in race

KARACHI: A transgender, Abdul Aziz alias Bindiya Rana, was allowed on Saturday to contest the upcoming election from the city’s PS-114 seat of provincial assembly constituency by the election tribunal. Rana had challenged rejection of her nomination papers by the concerned returning officer due to absence of her proposer and non-availability of original CNIC card of her seconder on April 7. “Although I fulfill the criteria laid down for any candidate to contest the election under Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution, the returning officer rejected my nomination papers, which should be accepted,” she pleaded to the two-member tribunal headed by Justice Faisal Arab. After hearing arguments, the tribunal allowed the representative of the transgender community to contest the polls.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 14^th, 2013.