Business ties in line with law, Asif tells IHC

Foreign minister seeks dismissal of PTI leader’s petition

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif has said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Usman Dar approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) against him over the Iqama issue after he could not digest his 2013 election defeat and subsequent dismissal of his petition by the election tribunal and the Supreme Court, challenging the respondent’s victory.

Submitting his reply in the IHC registrar office in response to the Dar’s petition seeking his disqualification for having a foreign work permit, Asif said the petitioner relied upon all the documents appended by him along with his nomination papers prior to the 2013 elections.

Asif’s counsel Rashdeen Nawaz contended that Dar was trying to achieve his mala fide objectives by seeking re-adjudication of the election dispute indirectly through filing of the current petition, which was contrary to the principal of law that “what cannot be achieved directly cannot be achieved indirectly.”



The counsel said, “The burden to prove any disqualification rests squarely on Dar’s shoulders as the writ petition amounts to a ‘second round’ of litigation as the petitioner failed to get any relief before the election tribunal and the apex court.”

He added that Dar’s petition was bound to fail as the conduct, motive and intention of the petitioner were mala fide, and that the petition had been filed after four years of litigation and after having exhausted all his legal rights.

The grounds chosen by the petitioner were old facts which were available prior to the elections of 2013 and no new fact or details had been discovered which gave right to a fresh cause of action to the petitioner to invoke jurisdiction of the IHC.

Asif said the petitioner had consciously concealed the material fact that he had filed an election petition and failed till the Supreme Court. In his para-wise comments on the petition, Asif said that Dar could not be a law-abiding citizen as he had misstated and concealed facts causing immense harassment and hardship to the respondent.



Iqama and consultancy

In his reply, Asif said it was correct that he was employed as a legal adviser as stated in the employment form. “The respondent No 1 [Asif] is working and providing the relevant advice to the satisfaction of the company (IMECL),” he stated.

He, however, stated that the business relationship between the company and the respondent was in accordance with the law, not relating to the national security or any matter which might be in conflict with the official functions being carried out by the respondent being the foreign minister.

There was no reason why the petitioner should object to the working relationship of Asif with the company in the UAE without showing violation of any express provision of law, he said, adding that the remuneration fee received by Asif had been duly declared in his nomination form for the election held in May 2013.

He said the payment of 35,000 dirhams, plus 15,000 dirhams in allowances, pertained to the year 2015 onward and could not be mentioned in the nomination form of 2013. He added that the payments made were duly accounted for in the income tax returns, and the law of the land was being followed.3



Asif’s counsel has averred that assertion being peddled by Dar that Asif was a full time employee of IMECL was based on a misconception of facts.

The petition had pointed out that the Iqama was renewed on June 29, 2017 and it was valid till June 28, 2019, which established that in spite of being a federal minister, Asif “intends to surreptitiously and secretly continue with his full-time employment with IMECL in violation of his oath of office under the Constitution of Pakistan”.

The existence of the ‘Labour Card’ is a matter of fact, however, no inference may be drawn that Asif had any surreptitious intent in continuing the said consultancy, stated Asif’s counsel in the reply, adding that violation of oath of office was also misconceived.

He said that Asif had attached his passport along with his nomination papers filed for the general elections, adding that nothing was concealed and it was clearly stated that Asif was the legal adviser of the company.

“The “Iqama/visa” was available in the passport which was attached with the nomination papers. All the payments received from the company which are mentioned in the nomination papers cannot be disputed as the record speaks for itself,” Asif stated.

He requested the court to dismiss the petition with special cost.