IHC reserves verdict on admissibility of Vawda's plea against lifetime disqualification

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday reserved its verdict on the admissibility of a petition filed by the ruling PTI leader Faisal Vawda against his lifetime disqualification by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in a case relating to his dual nationality.

IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah took up the petition today. In his arguments, Vawda’s counsel Waseem Sajjad said,” The ECP is not a court of law.”

“Under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution, the ECP does not have powers to disqualify Vawda for life,” he argued.

At this, Minallah said that Vawda had submitted his affidavit in line with the orders of the apex court, adding that the counsel was talking on technical grounds. 

The judge said that the SC had made the affidavit part of the case and asked the lawyer to point out what was wrong in the Election Commission order.

It is pertinent to mention here that Faisal Vawda had submitted a false affidavit at the time of filing his election nomination papers and he had hidden his dual nationality.

At the outset of today's hearing, the judge said that the SC had warned that if the affidavit turned out to be wrong, it would have serious consequences.

Minallah asked did Vawda surrender his US nationality before filing his election nomination papers? What ECP should have done when it concluded that Vawda had submitted a wrong affidavit about his nationality?

The lawyer replied that the ECP could have launched an inquiry into the matter, adding that in case of a false affidavit, the court of law has the power to take action.

“For a politician, lifetime disqualification is tantamount to a death sentence,” said Vawda counsel.

At this, the judge remarked that this “death sentence” had been handed down to several politicians and adjourned the hearing.

Faisal Vawda disqualified 

On February 9, the ECP had disqualified PTI’s Senator Faisal Vawda as a lawmaker in a case related to his dual nationality.

A three-member ECP bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja had announced the verdict, which was reserved on December 23 on a petition seeking disqualification of Vawda for concealing his dual nationality at the time of filing his election nomination papers in 2018.

The ECP bench had reserved its ruling after the complainant — PPP MNA Qadir Khan Mandokhail — completed his arguments.

In its judgment, the ECP had observed that Faisal Vawda had submitted a wrong affidavit at the time of filing his election nomination papers in 2018.

The ECP had also declared him ineligible for holding the seat of a senator and ordered to withdraw the notification issued in this regard.