Khawaja Asif disqualified under Article 62(1)(f), rules IHC 'with a heavy heart'
A three-member special bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday disqualified Khawaja Asif as a member of the parliament under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution, read with section 99(1)(f) of the Act of 1976.
- PTI's Usman Dar files petition against Asif in 2017
- Says Asif did not declare his job in UAE, salary in the 2013 nomination papers
- Asif contends before court that he declared AED50,000 as foreign income in papers
- IHC reserves verdict in the case on April 10
- On April 13, SC rules disqualification under Article 62 (1)(f) is for life
"We declare that the Respondent [Asif] was not qualified to contest the General Election of 2013 from NA-110 as he did not fulfill the conditions described under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution, read with section 99(1)(f) of the Act of 1976," reads the judgment.
Read: Disqualification under Article 62 (1)(f) is for life, SC rules in historic verdict
"The Registrar of this Court is directed to send certified copy of this judgment to the Election Commission for de-notifying the Respondent as Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan. A copy is also directed to be sent to the Speaker of National Assembly of Pakistan for information," it adds.
Article 62(1)(f), which sets the precondition for a member of parliament to be "sadiq and ameen" (honest and righteous), is the same provision under which former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was disqualified by a five-judge SC bench on July 28, 2017, in the Panama Papers case. Likewise, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Tareen was disqualified on Dec 15 last year by a separate bench of the apex court under the same provision.
'Judgement written with a heavy heart'
The judgement was announced by a three-member bench, comprising Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani.
It is not clear if Asif would have to step down from his post as foreign minister following the denotification from ECP.
While concluding the judgement, the bench observed that "it is not a pleasant duty for any court to be called upon to examine and exercise powers of judicial review which may lead to an elected representative being disqualified as Member of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament)".
The judgement observed that it would have been appropriate if the political party to which the petitioner belongs, the PTI, had raised the issue at hand in the parliament before invoking the jurisdiction of the court.
"We have handed down this judgment with a heavy heart not only because a seasoned and accomplished political figure stands disqualified but more so because the dreams and aspirations of 342,125 registered voters have suffered a setback."
Asif, while talking to Geo's Hamid Mir, said that he will challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court. "I never concealed my iqama," he told the anchor.
PTI's 'victory'
Petitioner Usman Dar of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), who lost elections to Asif in 2013, had filed the petition last year,
seeking Asif's disqualification for holding a UAE iqama (visa).
Calling Asif an underworld don, he give the credit of this "success" to PTI chief Imran Khan. He also thanked Jahangir Tareen — PTI leader who was also disqualified under the same Article (62)(f) last year.
Supporters of the PTI started chanting slogans of "Go Nawaz Go" outside the court after the verdict was announced in a packed courtroom.
The petition filed by Usman Dar had said that Asif was entitled to draw a salary which was his receivable asset; however, since he did not declare it in the nomination paper while contesting the 2013 general elections from NA-110, he is not eligible to hold the National Assembly seat.
The petition pointed out that the iqama of Asif was renewed on June 29, 2017 and was valid till June 28, 2019, which established that in spite of being a federal minister, Asif “intends to surreptitiously and secretly continue with his full-time employment with IMECL in violation of his oath of office under the Constitution”.
'Iqama was not concealed'
In his reply, Asif contended before the court that the petitioner had concealed from the court that the issue related to iqama had not only been adjudicated by the Election Tribunal but the Supreme Court decided this case in his (Asif) favour.
It said that the petitioner has relied upon all those documents which Asif had already submitted to the returning officer at the time of filing of nomination papers in 2013. It further said that the petitioner had approached the high court by concealing material facts and his conduct and motive are based on mala fides.
According to his reply, till the tax year 2011-2012, Asif received AED50,000 and declared it as foreign income in the nomination papers.
Last year, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif was
disqualified as the prime minister in the Panama Papers case after a five-member SC bench concluded that he had been 'dishonest' by
not declaring his receivable salary as the chairman of the board of Capital FZE in his nomination papers for the 2013 election.
Leading up to the verdict, Sharif's counsel — Khawaja Harris — had conceded before the court that Hassan Nawaz, the prime minister's younger son, was the owner of Capital FZE and Sharif its chairman.
The purpose of the arrangement, explained the counsel, was solely to secure an iqama which would allow the prime minister easy access to the Gulf state "in his years in exile".
This is a developing story that is being updated as the situation evolves. Initial reports in the media can sometimes be inaccurate. We will strive to ensure timeliness and accuracy by relying on credible sources such as concerned, qualified authorities and our staff reporters.
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