Farooq Naeem—AFP
The Supreme Court (SC) on Sunday ruled that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) lacks any jurisdiction under the Constitution to decide the pre-election disqualification of any lawmaker.
In a four-page short order authored by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial—who heard the case alongside Justices Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Ayesha Malik—the apex court nullified earlier verdicts of the ECP and a high court regarding the lifetime disqualification of former PTI leader Faisal Vawda over lying in his nomination documents for the 2018 general elections. “[The] ECP has no jurisdiction … to inquire into and decide upon the matter of pre-election disqualification and disqualification of a returned candidate,” it said.
According to the order, Vawda had admitted in court that he received a citizenship renunciation certificate from U.S. authorities on June 25, 2018, after he had already declared to the ECP that he had relinquished his American citizenship. Noting that the former PTI leader had admitted his mistake and apologized unconditionally to the SC, the short order noted that he had not been eligible to contest the 2018 general elections.
However, it added, Article 63(1)(c) applied to him after his unconditional apology and he was now free to contest the next general elections. As a consequence, per the order, Vawda remains disqualified for the duration of the incumbent Parliament’s tenure. The short-order also directed the authorities concerned to forward Vawda’s resignation to the Senate chairman for further process.
Unconditional apology
In its final hearing into the case on Nov. 25, the Supreme Court had revoked the lifetime ban barring Vawda from contesting elections on the condition that he tender an unconditional apology for lying about his dual nationality in a declaration submitted before the 2018 general elections and resign from the Senate. Appearing before the court, the former PTI leader had issued an unconditional apology, agreed to resign from the Senate, and said he would accept any punishment imposed on him by the court.
Accepting his apology—and claiming that a lifetime disqualification was “too harsh”—the apex court had accepted his apology and ruled that he was now disqualified under Article 63(1)(c) and not Article 62(1)(f)—which was used to impose a lifetime ban on former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
In February, the ECP had imposed a lifetime ban on Vawda for concealing his dual nationality while submitting a declaration ahead of the 2018 general elections. In its order, the ECP had directed him to return any salary and other benefits he had accrued during his time as a lawmaker and de-notified him as a senator.