ISLAMABAD: In a highly anticipated verdict, the Islamabad High Court has disqualified incumbent Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif from holding a seat in parliament.
The disqualification will hold for life, and rests on the fact that Asif failed to reveal in his nomination papers the United Arab Emirates’ ‘iqama’ (work permit) he held because of his employment at the Abu Dhabi based company International Mechanical and Electrical Co (IMECO).
The three member bench headed by Judge Athar Minallah dismissed Asif under clause 62 (1)(f) of the constitution, which claims that Asif was not ‘al-sadiq’ and ‘al-ameen’.
It is also the same clause that was used in the contentious Panama Papers case that dismissed former premier Nawaz Sharif.
The court had initially withheld its decision when the proceedings had concluded on the 10th of April.
Moreover, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Usman Dar, who filed the petition against Khawaja Asif and who stood against the PML-N veteran in the 2013 elections, celebrated the court’s verdict and claimed that the ‘godfather’ who had been ruling in Sialkot for the past 32 years had finally met his demise.
