Night_Hawk
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Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. PHOTO: AFP
ISLAMABAD/KARACHI: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has approached the Supreme Court seeking the disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif under Article 62-F of the Constitution.
The petition was moved by PTI senior leader Ishaq Khan Khakwani under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution. PM Nawaz Sharif and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) have been listed as respondents.
PTI attorney Irfan Qadir prayed the court to disqualify the PM from being a Member of the National Assembly as he gave a false statement in the National Assembly. The petition stated that the PM asked the army chief to act as mediator between government, Imran Khan and Tahir ul Qadri and serve as guarantor to any agreement.
The army chief agreed and met both leaders, who insisted that they would not back off from their demand for Nawaz Sharifs resignation. At this juncture, Nawaz Sharif felt that his plan had not only failed but his move was also not welcomed by certain political quarters. He therefore denied his earlier statement in a session of the National Assembly with the view to malign and damage the fair image of the Army Chief in violation of article 62 [g] by conveying to the people of Pakistan that Army Chief was dealing with such issues without any desire of the Government whereas the fact of the matter is that the army spokesman confirmed that the government had asked the Chief of Army Staff to do so, the petition states.
It is to be noted that Article 62 (f) says that a person shall not be qualified to be elected or chosen as a member of Parliament unless he is sagacious, righteous, non-profligate, honest and ameen, there being no declaration to the contrary by a court of law.
The petitioner contended that Nawaz Sharif stands disqualified in view of the dictum laid down by the Supreme Court in the case relating to disqualification of former Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani wherein court had directed the Election Commission of Pakistan to de-notify PM Gilani from the Membership of the National Assembly of Pakistan.
Similarly, the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday issued a notice to the top federal law officer for comments on a petition seeking the disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan for allegedly making false statements on the floor of the National Assembly.
A division bench headed by Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi directed the attorney general to file such comments by Tuesday (today). The bench was hearing a petition filed by Moulvi Iqbal Haider and Maqsood Ahmed, who named the secretaries of law, justice and parliamentary affairs ministries, the premier, the interior minister, the director general Inter-Services Press Relations (ISPR), the secretary National Assembly, secretary interior, deputy commissioner Islamabad and IG Islamabad police as respondents.
The petitioners alleged that the interior minister stated on the floor of the assembly that the government did not ask the army to play a role in resolving the political stalemate. Minutes later, ISPR issued a statement clarifying that the COAS was asked to play a facilitative role.
The petitioners argued that the premier and interior minister have no right to retain their offices as they are disqualified under Article 62 and 63 since they lied on the Assembly floor. They have attempted to disgrace and defame the top security institution, the petitioner added.
After hearing initial arguments, the bench issued a notice to the attorney general to file comments in this regard today.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 2[SUP]nd[/SUP], 2014.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/756806/...der-approaches-sc-for-disqualification-of-pm/
