The highest court orders Vawda to publicly acknowledge their error.
The Supreme Court has stated that it has sufficient evidence to disqualify him under Rule 62(1)(f).
ISLAMABAD:
Former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmaker Faisal Vawda was ordered by the Supreme Court on Thursday to recognise his error and accept the one-time disqualification. If he did not, the court stated that it had sufficient material for his disqualification under Section 62(1) of the Constitution (f).
Vawda’s appeal against a decision of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), which had upheld the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) ruling for his disqualification because of dual nationalities, was heard by a three-judge bench led by the Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and consisting of Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Ayesha Malik. The bench was presided over by the Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial.
During the course of the hearing, Chief Justice Bandial stated that if Vawda did not accept his error and be disqualified in accordance with Rule 63(1)(c), then the court would move forward with the matter in accordance with Rule 62(1)f. In addition, he stated that there was sufficient evidence presented to the court to permanently exclude Faisal Vawda.
The chief justice emphasised that Vawda must accept his mistake in writing, and added that Vawda must appear before the court and state that he altered the date of dual citizenship. Vawda must also appear before the court and say that he amended the date of dual citizenship. He gave instructions to the attorney representing Vawda to bring the certificate proving that Vawda had renounced his US citizenship.
The attorney contended that as the ECP was not a court of law, it did not have the authority to permanently exclude anyone from eligibility for whatever reason. The chief justice informed the attorney that there was evidence in front of the court that demonstrated that Vawda had provided the court with a fake affidavit.
If the ECP did not have the authority, then the IHC did, according to Justice Malik, who stated that the IHC had the ability to announce a lifelong disqualification. With all of the evidence in front of the court, Justice Mansoor Shah questioned the lawyer on why the Supreme Court was unable to permanently dismiss his client.
The court stated that Vawda had told numerous lies in order to cover up a single untruth, and they went on to say that he had submitted the affidavit not for a job but for the election. The judge stressed that candidates needed to demonstrate that they were trustworthy and honest in order to run for office. He added, “There is no space for mistake in politics,” and that statement is absolutely true.
Following then, the court postponed any further hearings of the matter until the following Friday (which is today).
