LONDON: A complaint against Water Resources Minister Faisal Vawda was registered at the British National Crime Agency (NCA) by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Abid Sher Ali on Friday.
In his complaint, Ali requested the British agency to conduct an inquiry into the assets of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) leader. He also claimed Vawda owns 11 properties in the UK.
The PML-N leader demanded that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairperson and the chief justice of Pakistan take action against Vawda.
Earlier, an investigative report published in The News on Monday had revealed that Vawda may have committed perjury by falsely declaring in an oath to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) that he did not hold any foreign nationality.
According to the report, Vawda was in possession of a US passport at the time he filed his nomination papers on June 11, 2018, and remained an American national even at the time the scrutiny of his papers was completed.
In a past judgement, the Supreme Court of Pakistan had categorically ruled that candidates who held dual nationality were supposed to submit a renunciation certificate of the foreign nationality along with their nomination papers.
The same judgement has previously led to the disqualification of various lawmakers, notable among whom were Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senators Saadia Abbasi and Haroon Akhtar.
In Vawda’s case, the last date to file the nomination papers for the July 2018 elections was June 11.