The Islamabad High Court on Wednesday has reserved its verdict regarding Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) leader and Senator Faisal Vawda’s challenging a lifetime disqualification as a parliamentarian.
Last Wednesday, the Election Commission of Pakistan declared Vawda unqualified to hold a lawmaker seat and withdrew its notification of his election as a senator.
In the hearing today, Vawda’s lawyer Advocate Waseem Sajjad argued before the IHC bench led by Chief Justice Athar Minallah that the ECP was not a court of law. He argued that the election commission lacked the required authority to pass the life disqualification for Vawda.
The IHC asked Sajjad to give the facts instead of making technical arguments. Justice Minallah asked what the ECP did wrong. He added that the apex had previously explained the penalties in the event of a false affidavit.
Vawda’s counsel claimed that his client did not submit a false affidavit deliberately. He maintained that Vawda had followed the law and got his second passport cancelled. Sajjad said that his client had acquired a certificate from the National Database and Registration Authority saying that he was now only a Pakistani citizen.
Vawda secured a seat in the National Assembly (NA-249) in July 2018 general elections by defeating the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz President Shehbaz Sharif with a narrow margin.
A complaint filed before the election commission challenged his elections saying that he held dual nationalities when he filed his nominations papers. A petition was filed before the IHC seeking his dismissal. Vawda sought adjournments from the election commission and the IHC and then finally resigned from his seat in 2021.
