ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court of Pakistan Thursday framed two questions regarding the disqualification of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Faisal Vawda and asked his counsel to suggest, can it issue declaration under Article 187 of the Constitution or not.
A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Umer Ata Bandial conducted hearing of an appeal of PTI former senator Faisal Vawda against the verdicts of Islamabad High Court (IHC) and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), disqualifying him for life under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution.
The CJP remarked that the ECP, in his personal opinion, does not have the power to disqualify a lawmaker from holding a public office for life under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution. He said, “The Election Commission decided the matter after considering the facts, which was upheld by the high court.” “Now you should tell if the high court’s decision was relevant or not under the Article 62-(1)(f) of the Constitution,” added the CJP. Justice Mansoor said that as the matter is before the apex court and it seemed that wrong decision was taken, then why not they hear it under Article 187.
Waseem Sajjad, the counsel for Vawda, argued that in the last hearing it was pointed out by the bench that Vawda had submitted expired passport before the Returning Officer. He said that it was not an expired passport and in fact a wrong copy of the passport was filed in the Supreme Court. Justice Ayesha Malik said that the expired passport was provided to the RO. She observed that the cancelled passport was submitted to the RO in 2018, which had expired in 2015. “When you get a new passport, the older one is stamped as cancelled,” she added. The Vawda’s counsel informed that the RO had examined all the documents, including the passport and then returned. Justice Mansoor said that for contesting election for the Parliament the requirement is to renounce foreign nationality and not to cancel the passport.
