SC asks if Asif misused ministerial powers

Ex-FM’s counsel completes arguments; Dar’s lawyer will argue on May 30

ISLAMABAD : The Supreme Court has questioned whether former foreign minister Khawaja Asif was misusing his ministerial powers by getting a hefty salary from abroad.

Muneer A Malik, the counsel for Khawaja Asif, on Monday concluded his arguments before a three-judge bench of the top court, headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial.

The bench observed that the judgment should not be based on presumption.

During the hearing, Asif’s counsel stated that there was no allegation of corruption against his client. He said that law did not prohibit any legislator from foreign employment.



Citing the Chambers Dictionary, he said the judgment in question defined occupation as business employment and profession. He said the ordinary definition of business is employment, trade, profession and occupation.

The counsel contended that his client had clearly indicated on his nomination form that he was getting a salary of 9,000 UAE dirhams under foreign salary income. Asif had also included it as foreign remittance, he said, adding that the nomination form did not require him to provide a separate list of salary.



Concealing such a minuscule amount, making up just 0.5% of his total assets, was absurd, he said, adding that Asif had voluntarily disclosed this fact in 2015.

The court, he said, could validly exercise the power of quo warranto against parliamentarians if their disqualification had a direct nexus to corruption. “There is no allegation of corruption against Asif,” he submitted.

The hearing of the case was adjourned till May 30 when Sikandar Bashir Mohmand, the counsel for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Usman Dar, will present arguments.