Daily Times

LAHORE: Lahore High Court Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah on October 6 will hold preliminary hearing on a petition moved by a member of Pakistan Justice and Democratic Party (PJDP), headed by former chief justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, challenging the eligibility of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as a member of parliament.

Sardar Umar Farooq filed the petition, naming National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and others as respondents.

The petitioner counsel challenged the speaker’s decision on reference against the PM. He stated that Sardar Ayaz had dismissed “as not maintainable” all references against the PM following the Panama leaks revelations, wherein the premier’s sons and daughter were accused of running offshore companies with the money allegedly not declared to the tax authorities.

He stated that under the law, the PM was bound to declare his offshore companies and properties abroad to the ECP, but he failed to do so, which rendered him disqualified for being elected the member of the National Assembly and then the PM. He stated that the speaker did not address at least 15 questions set in the reference, while on those he ruled, he deviated from the actual context of the matter.

He stated that the speaker, while dealing with the reference, had overstepped his authority by exercising judicial powers and decided the issue, which fell in the jurisdiction of the ECP. He said that the speaker was bound to put the references before the ECP.

The counsel stated that the PM had to disclose the source of his money when the foreign assets of his family had become an admitted fact. He said that the apex court had already held that a person was bound to prove his innocence when his relation by any means, was associated with the resources amassed illegally.

He stated that in light of the apex court’s command, the issue of “terms of reference” for Panama enquiry would have also been solved automatically. He also requested the court to declare the speaker’s decision null and void.

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Anwar Zaheer Jamali last week set aside objections raised by the Supreme Court (SC) office on four petitions seeking a probe into the Panamagate revelations and the disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.