ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif’s lawyer on Saturday told the top court that Awami Muslim League President Sheikh Rasheed’s petition, seeking disqualification of Nawaz, is not maintainable as the AML leader has already moved the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). PM’s lawyer Makhdoom Ali Khan filed a 17-page reply on the petition. “The Petitioner (Sheikh Rasheed) has already availed adequate constitutional and statutory remedies. The Petitioner is, therefore, stopped from invoking the Constitutional Jurisdiction of Supreme Court under Article 184(3) of the Constitution,” the reply stated. Sheikh Rasheed in his petition had asked the court to act as an investigating agency, examine voluminous evidence involving intricate questions of facts for PM’s disqualification. However, Nawaz Sharif in his reply stated that the exercise of authority by the court in this manner is beyond the scope of Article 184(3) of the constitution. “The material relied upon by the Petitioner (Sheikh Rasheed) cannot be regarded as evidence and cannot form the basis of disqualification as an MNA, unless it is ruled admissible in evidence and formally proved against the Respondent No. 4 (PM) in consonance with the provisions of Qanun-e-Shahadat Order, 1984 (QSO),” the reply stated. It further stated that there is no declaration by a court of law that the PM does not meet the test of Article 62 (1) (f) of the constitution. The answer stated that Nawaz Sharif’s name is not mentioned in Panama Papers nor he is beneficial owner of any of the companies, adding that there is not a shred of evidence on record which establishes his tax evasion. The PM added that his daughter Maryam ‘Safdar’ is not his dependent therefore he was not required to disclose details of any assets legally, ostensibly or beneficially owned by his daughter in his nomination papers. “The Wealth Reconciliation Statement for Tax Year 2011 is entirely irrelevant to falsify a declaration made in the Nomination Forms of 31 March 2013,” reply stated. The reply further stated that Maryam ‘Safdar’, on June 18 of 2012, paid Rs 24,851,526 to her father, the prime minister, through bank transfer for purchasing a land from her father. “The land was, therefore, deleted from the Wealth Statement of PM for the Tax Year 2012,” it further stated. Denying the allegations of sabotaging institutions, PM said that the National Accountability Bureau, Federal Board of Revenue and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan are independent and self-governing institutions.