SC disqualifies dual national lawmakers
Supreme Court of Pakistan. — Photo by AFP
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that lawmakers holding dual nationalities were not eligible to hold any public offices and declared all such lawmakers as disqualified, DawnNews reported.
A three-judge bench led by the Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had earlier reserved its ruling in the case relating to legislators holding dual nationality.
The ECP has also annulled the assembly membership of the of the 11 disqualified lawmakers in accordance with the SC’s judgement. The lawmakers include Zahid Iqbal, Farahnaz Ispahani, Muhammad Ikhlaq, Ashraf Chauhan, Nadia Gabol, Amina Buttar, Jameel Awan, Waseem Qadir, Farhat Mahmood Khan, Nadeem Khadim and Ahmed Ali Shah.
Four among the disqualified legislators were from the National Assembly, five from the Punjab Assembly and two from the Sindh Assembly. The bench further directed that the verdict be sent to the speakers of the concerned assemblies and the Senate’s chairman.
Disqualified MNAs include Pakistan People’s Party’s Farahnaz Ispahani, Zahid Iqbal, Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s MNA Farhat Mahmood Khan and Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz’s Jameel Awan.
Lawmakers disqualified from the Punjab Assembly include PML-N’s Muhammad Ikhlaq, Ashraf Chauhan, Waseem Qadir, Nadeem Khadim and PPP’s Amina Buttar.
Legislators disqualified from the Sindh Assembly include PPP’s Ahmed Ali Shah and MQM’s Nadia Gabol.
The bench said the lawmakers were being disqualified under Article 62 and Article 63 of the Constitution.
The court moreover directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to initiate proceedings against the said lawmakers who it said had committed perjury with respect to their oaths.
The court also ordered the government to withdraw the amount spent on the salaries and perks on the disqualified lawmakers from them and deposit the amount in the national treasury.
It also directed the Senate and National Assembly secretaries to submit a progress report on the matter in two weeks’ time.
Ruling that Rehman Malik was a British citizen until May 29, 2012, the verdict stated that the PPP leader was not transparent with respect to his statements and could no longer be considered ‘sadiq’ and ‘ameen’.
“Mr A Rehman Malik, in view of the false declaration filed by him at the time of contesting the election to the Senate held in the year 2008…cannot be considered sagacious, righteous (and) honest,” Chief Justice Iftikhar said in the ruling.
However, the apex court has reserved its judgement in the dual nationality case against Interior Minister Rehman Malik, which will be announced at an unspecified later date.
The bench also directed the ECP to initiate legal proceedings against Malik over the false declaration. It ordered that a criminal case be registered against the leader, who, it said, had submitted an erroneous affidavit for the 2008 Senate elections in violation of election laws.
The bench ruled the withdrawal of the amount spent on Malik’s salary and perks from him and its deposition in the national treasury.
The Senate’s chairman should send a reference against Malik, the court ruled, adding that, the minister’s affidavit for the Senate’s election was not transparent.
Excellent Judgement – will have far reaching effect. Enough of remote controlled Moin Qureshi like operations in Pakistan. Let pure Pakistanis decide about Pakistan. If some one is so keen to serve Pakistan he should do away with his adopted nationality. Before other nationality is conferred the seeker has to take oath to serve the adopted country above personal considerations of all kind.
To have a cake and have it too is a very old saying but not yet obsolete with politicians in Pakistan. How can you have divided loyalties. Either be a Pakistani or a Firangi. If you feel so insecure go back to the foreign land where your talents as a politician or a law maker have no takers. At best you would run a kabab shop and clean the utentials after serving your guests. Better stay in Pakistan and exploit the hapless gullible masses. Chawla
Judgement of the supreme court on dual nationality is highly appreciable. We all Pakistanis should be loyal to motherland when we are holding any public office. This rule should be applied on technocrats, bureaucrats and other key public office holders so that national security and integrity is protected in best manner.
Rehman Malik you have no moral grounds to hold any public office, please resign, you forget that one day when you will be sent to hell because of lying and plundering the wealth of the country.
shame on you and many other ministers like you in Pakistan.
Don’t worry, Zardari will come up with another card .
What the Supreme Court needs to understand that they do not make the law. Only enforce the law passed by the legislators. They can make a law unconstitutional if it violated the constitution.
The Pakistan parliament has already passed the law that a person of dual nationality can hold an office. It is the right of the parliament to pass the law.
The problem is Supreme Court instead of interrupting the law wants to define the law. They should contest election and become member of the parliament and pass laws.
What about those who are no more law makers and were in the cabinet,such as,Moin Qurashi,Shaukat Aziz,Tariq Azim etc etc?At least get hold of them who are in Pakistan and recover the money.What about ECP who knew they were dual citizen holder and looked the other way.Good start but should end well.
Good decision by SC. SC must follow it up and take this matter to its logical conclusion.
These are strong moves. I hope that these moves will be implemented.