Iqama case: IHC to take up plea against Asif after vacation

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday adjourned hearing of the plea seeking disqualification of Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif for possessing an Iqama, or a foreign work permit, until after the court’s winter vacation.

A larger bench, comprising Justice Aamer Farooq, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, adjourned the hearing because Sikandar Bashir, the counsel for petitioner Usman Dar of the PTI, was unable to attend the court.

During the proceedings, a lawyer for Dar submitted bank account transaction record before the court and stated that Foreign Minister Asif did not mention an Abu Dhabi bank account in his election nomination papers.



Asif had rejected the allegations levelled against him by the petitioner. Through his counsel Rashdeen Nawaz, Asif stated that Dar moved the IHC over the Iqama issue after he could not digest his 2013 election defeat and subsequent dismissal of his challenge of the election result by the election tribunal and the Supreme Court.

He contended that Dar’s petition was contrary to the principal of law that “what cannot be achieved directly cannot be achieved indirectly”. He added the petition had been filed after four years of litigation and after having exhausted all his legal rights.