No separate oath for minority MPs, SC told

ISLAMABAD: During the hearing of the Panamagate case on Friday, the Supreme Court was surprised to learn that there is no separate text of oath for lawmakers belonging to the minority communities.

This was revealed when Jamaat-e-Islami’s counsel Taufiq Asif read out the oath for parliamentarians, as mentioned in Article 65 of the Constitution.

When the counsel read the line, “I will strive to preserve the Islamic Ideology which is the basis for the creation of Pakistan,” Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, who is heading the five-judge larger bench, expressed wonder whether there is any separate oath for the minority lawmakers.

The counsel replied that there is no separate text of the oath for them.

Legal experts wonder why this anomaly cannot be removed in the Constitution. Interestingly, the same text recurs in the oaths for the president, prime minister and MNAs. However, this portion is not mentioned in the oath for superior court judges.

The PTI lawyer Chaudhry Faisal Hussain believes that it is an anomaly, which should have been removed through the 18th constitutional amendment. Talking to The Express Tribune, the PML-N lawmaker Dr Ramesh Kumar said he has already raised his voice about this matter. “Separate text of the oath for the minorities’ lawmakers should be introduced through amendment,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 21^st, 2017.