ISLAMABAD: In a setback to the ruling
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN), the
Islamabad
high court (IHC) on Thursday barred the country’s foreign minister
Khawaja Muhammad Asif from holding public office for life. He was disqualified for concealing that he owned a UAE foreign work permit.
The verdict was based on Article 62 (1) (f) of the Pakistani Constitution that requires a public office holder to be honest and righteous. Ex-PM Nawaz Sharif was also disqualified from office under the same provision last July in the Panama Papers case. Earlier this month, the Pakistan SC had ruled in a unanimous order that any person declared dishonest and not righteous by court would stand disqualified from politics or holding public office for life.
A three-member bench of the IHC headed by Justice Athar Minallah stated that Asif was not qualified to contest polls in 2013. The court said Asif “had deliberately and willfully not disclosed his status as an employee” of a UAE based company, and the substantial salary (UAE Dirham) AED 50,000 a month he received without being physically present.
The HC also said Asif had not declared a bank account maintained with the
National Bank of Abu Dhabi
in the statement of assets and liabilities attached to his nomination paper.
Asif said he will challenge the verdict in the SC, and that he had never concealed his foreign permit.
PTI chief
Imran Khan tweeted, “Another darbari (toady) of the godfather (Nawaz Sharif) disqualified on the same pattern.”