ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday reserved the verdict over PTI leader and former Senator Faisal Vawda’s petition challenging his lifetime disqualification as a lawmaker.<\/p>\n
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had declared Vawda ineligible to hold the seat of a lawmaker and also took back the notification of his election as a Senator last Wednesday.<\/p>\n
In today’s hearing at the IHC, Vawda’s counsel Advocate Waseem Sajjad appeared before a bench headed by IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah.<\/p>\n
The lawyer based his case on the argument that the ECP is not a court of law therefore it lacks authority to disqualify Vawda for life.<\/p>\n
“The ECP cannot invoke Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution and disqualify Vawda for life,” he said.<\/p>\n
At this, Justice Minallah remarked: “The affidavit had been submitted in light of a Supreme Court’s order [requiring a certificate for the renunciation of foreign nationalities]. You are basing your arguments on technical grounds.”<\/p>\n
The chief justice asked Advocate Sajjad to point out the flaw in ECP’s decision.<\/p>\n
Justice Minallah went on to say that the apex court had issued the order itself and made the submission of the affidavit a must. It also warned of serious consequences if the statement in the affidavit was found to be false, he added.<\/p>\n
“Would the SC have investigated the authenticity of the affidavit [itself],” the CJ asked, adding that ECP was supposed to carry out the inquiry and send it to the apex court with the report that these are the consequences for submitting a false affidavit.<\/p>\n
The court told the lawyer to prove the purity of Vawda’s intentions, based on the argument he didn’t hold dual nationality at the time of the affidavit’s submission.<\/p>\n
“Did [Vawda] give up his US nationality before he submitted his nomination papers or not?” Justice Minallah inquired.<\/p>\n
He also inquired about the date of renunciation of the US citizenship, and if the certificate proved it has been submitted.<\/p>\n
At this, Advocate Sajjad maintained that the ECP can only probe the falsity or otherwise of the affidavit but the procedure after that has to be taken into account.<\/p>\n
Responding to the query about the submission of the renunciation certificate, the lawyer said that the petitioner [of the plea seeking Vawda’s disqualification] also didn’t submit the certificate proving they surrendered their other nationalities.<\/p>\n
“Lifetime disqualification is a death sentence for a politician,” he added.<\/p>\n
At this, Justice Minallah remarked that many politicians have got this “death penalty”, and reserved the verdict on Vawda’s plea.<\/p>\n
The ECP, while announcing the verdict for the PTI leader’s disqualification, had directed him to turn in all financial benefits and privileges he had been enjoying as a Senator within two months.<\/p>\n
It stated that Vawda can still reach out to the Supreme Court to challenge the verdict for his disqualification.<\/p>\n