ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday reserved its decision on the maintainability of a case filed by former minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) leader Faisal Vawda challenging the Election Commission of Pakistan’s lifelong exclusion from the parliament (ECP).
IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah heard the plea earlier today.
Vawda’s counsel, Wasim Sajid, told the court that the PTI leader was disqualified under section 62(1)(f) of the Constitution during the hearing. Sajid stated, “This is a political death sentence.”
The lawyer claimed that because the ECP is not a court of law, it “had no power” to issue a disqualification judgement.
He claimed that the Supreme Court had declared in its conclusion that the commission could not make a disqualification decision. He further informed the court that after disqualifying Vawda, the ECP had de-notified him as a senator.
In response, Justice Minallah noted that if this is the case, many politicians have received “the death sentence.”
“The petitioner must establish his case,” he continued, cautioning him that presenting a fake affidavit was constituted contempt of court by the Supreme Court.
Justice Minallah also enquired about the former minister’s rejection of his American citizenship certificate. He inquired, “What is the certificate’s date?”
According to the IHC CJ, the petitioner must additionally demonstrate that he had no dual citizenship at the time the affidavit was filed.
“That the affidavit was filed in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling, and that the Supreme Court issued an order that included the affidavit,” he continued.
Following that, the court reserved its decision on the petition’s admissibility.
The ECP disqualified PTI leader Faisal Vawda from parliament for life last week after he submitted a fake affidavit on his dual citizenship.
Vawda, who resigned from his MNA seat to run for senator in last year’s elections, was also ordered to return all perks and advantages he got as a member of the National Assembly, according to the ruling released on February 9.
The election watchdog disqualified the PTI senator for violating Article 62(1)(f), which deals with being “sadiq (truthful) and “amin (honest).” ” (honest). The equivalent forms the requirements for becoming a member of parliament, and it is the same provision under which former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was disqualified by the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case on July 28, 2017.
