Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday overturned lifetime disqualification of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Muhammad Asif from holding a public office.

Asif had been disqualified for life by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for not disclosing in his nomination papers submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) that he held a job in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

On Friday, a three-member bench – Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah – hearing Asif’s appeal against the IHC verdict announced a short order, annulling the lifetime ban. The court observed that the details of the verdict would be shared soon. Now Asif can contest the upcoming general elections.

During the hearing on Thursday, the Supreme Court had observed that it would be unfair to destroy the career of a parliamentarian just because he failed to quantify his assets, even though he disclosed his sources of income under relevant laws.

Justice Umer Ata Bandial observed that disclosing foreign salary was sufficient. Earlier he inquired whether Asif had disclosed in his nomination papers, a salary of AED9000. To this, Sikandar Bashir Mohmand, counsel for the petitioner, admitted that Asif had mention AED9000 but he put zero in the next box.

In his concluding arguments on Friday, Munir A. Malik, senior counsel for Asif, argued that his client had not concealed anything required to be mentioned in the nomination papers. He maintained that if his client’s earnings were over and above the amount declared in his papers, the Election Commission of Pakistan could look into the matter. He said Asif missed out on the foreign accounts details in his papers by mistake, adding that he had declared all his bank account details as well as the UAE work permit well before the writ petition was filed against him in the IHC by Usman Dar.

Malik contended that the parliamentarians must not be made to constantly work under the shadow of the sword of disqualification.

In his concluding arguments, Sikander Bashir Mohmand, counsel for PTI leader Usman Dar, contended that Asif had been serving in a foreign company, despite being a federal minister in Pakistan. He said Asif had violated his oath by doing so.

Usman Dar had filed the petition in the IHC seeking the former foreign minister’s disqualification over failure to declare his foreign employment in the nomination papers submitted for the 2013 general elections.

In its short order, the SC set aside the IHC’s April 26, 2018 verdict, which had disqualified Asif for life under the controversial Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution.

In a tweet posted on his profile after the decision, Asif said he was thankful to the Almight for bestowing his mercy upon him. “I want to thank the judiciary,” Asif tweeted.

Reacting to the verdict, Usman Dar congratulated Khawaja Asif for becoming eligible to contest general elections, and said, “We will compete in the court of people in Sialkot now. There will be a tough competition in Sialkot.”

While speaking to media outside the Supreme Court, he addressed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz and said, “You may keep saying whatever you want, but it is the court that has deemed your worker to be eligible.”

Published in Daily Times, June 2^nd 2018.