Pak SC strikes down disqualification of Khwaja Asif
Islamabad, Jun 1: Pakistan Supreme Court today struck down a high court order that disqualified former foreign minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif, making him eligible to contest in the upcoming elections.
Asif on April 27 was disqualified by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for failing to disclose his employment in a UAE company and the monthly salary he was receiving.
He challenged it in the Supreme Court earlier last month.
A three-member bench headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandia overturned the decision of the Islamabad High Court to disqualify PML-N leader Asif for life.
The Supreme Court observed that it would unfair to destroy the career of a parliamentarian because he failed to quantify his assets, though he disclosed their source under the relevant law.
Bandial observed that disclosing foreign salary by the petitioner was sufficient and that it was not fair to destroy anyone’s career.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Mohammad Usman Dar whose petition led to Asif’s disqualification accepted that verdict but said he would defeat Asif in elections.
Asif had defeated Dar in 2013 polls to become a lawmaker. Both of them belong to Sialkot in Punjab.
