Khawaja Asif challenges disqualification in Supreme Court

Pakistan Muslim League (N) leader Khawaja Asif challenged in the Supreme Court on Wednesday last week’s decision to disqualify him from parliament.
The former foreign minister was disqualified under Article 62(1)(f) of the constitution on April 26, after the Islamabad High Court found he had not disclosed his employment in a UAE-based company and the related compensation, in his nomination papers for the 2013 election.
In his petition challenging the disqualification, Asif has argued that while he was unable to disclose the related bank account in his nomination papers in 2013, he had declared both his residence permit for the UAE and the bank account, before the petition was filed against him.
Furthermore, he argued that the bank account in question was dormant and held only a very small fraction of his declared assets. He has asked the Supreme Court to overturn the decision and void the notification issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan de-notifying him as a member of the National Assembly.
The Supreme Court admitted Asif’s petition and has decided to hear the case on Friday, May 4.
The three-member IHC bench, comprising Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, had disqualified Asif with a “heavy heart.” The court judgment read: “We have handed down this judgment with a heavy heart not only because a seasoned and accomplished political figure stands disqualified but more so because the dreams and aspirations of 342,125 registered voters have suffered a setback.’
Asif is the second-highest profile PML (N) leader to be disqualified under the Article 62 of the constitution, after former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was disqualified last year. With the forthcoming general elections in 2018, both Sharif and Asif’s disqualifications are being considered significant losses for PML (N), from an electoral standpoint.
The initial petition against Asif was brought forward by Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf’s Usman Dar, Asif’s political rival and contestant in the 2013 general election for the seat of NA-110 in Sialkot. Asif has won this seat consecutively five times in the general elections of 1993, 1996, 2002, 2008, and 2013.