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Friday, March 29, 2013
SC summons 20 dual national former lawmakersISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has issued notices to 20 former lawmakers, who had tendered resignations for holding dual nationalities, to appear before the court on April 1 and explain ‘why they should not be declared disqualified for holding dual nationalities in view of the Article 63 (1c) of the constitution’. The three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, questioned the Election Commission of Pakistan that why criminal cases were not registered against the former members of provincial and national assemblies for ‘concealing their dual nationality at the time of filing nomination papers for the election’. The bench observed that the court, in its verdict in the Shehnaz Sheikh dual nationality case, had ordered the lawmakers to return the benefits and salaries they drew from the government’s exchequer. The chief justice asked if a dual national could not become member of the national or provincial assemblies, how he could be made an advisor? The ECP’s representative told the court that they have already sent the list of these parliamentarians to the returning officers of relevant constituencies. Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed said there should not be dual standards against the powerful lawmakers and the ordinary ones as the law was equal for everyone and the action should be taken across the board. The CJP said that the Supreme Court’s verdict was binding upon the ECP which should have taken action against the former lawmakers even after their resignations. The court noted that the parliamentarians had been enjoying the perk and privileges even after their resignations and questioned why they not be treated like other MNA and MPAs who were disqualified for holding dual citizenship. The court directed the ECP to furnish the complete record of these MPs to the registrar office and adjourned the case till April 1. The former lawmakers, to whom notices were issued, are: Dr Asim Hussain, Dr Nadeem Ehsan, Syed Haider Abbas Rizvi, Ms Fauzia Ejaz, Ms Sabeen Rizvi, Dr Arish Kumar, Dr Donya Aziz, Arif Aziz Sheikh, Jamil Ahmed Malik, Fauzia Asghar, Dr Tahir Ali Javed, Jamil Ashraf, Javaid Iqbal Tarkai, Murad Ali Shah, Sadiq Ali Memon, Abdul Moeed Siddiqui, Dr Muhammad Ali Shah, Askari Taqvi, Raza Haroon and Syed Tayyab Hassan. staff report
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk