Kashif Chaudhry. PHOTO: EXPRESS
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has disqualified a provincial lawmaker, belonging to the PML-N, on account of submitting a fake degree to the polls supervisory body ahead of 2018 general election.
Kashif Chaudhry was elected from PP-241 – Bahawalnagar 5 – to the Punjab Assembly in July 28, 2018 general election. A member of the former ruling party, the PML-N, Chaudhry had defeated the PTI’s Malik Mohammad Muzafar Khan by a margin of around 4,400 votes.
After his election, a petition was filed claiming that he had submitted a fake Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) along with his nomination papers for the polls.
The petitioner had requested the court to disqualify Chaudhry on the basis of Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution contending that he had ceased to be Sadiq and Ameen – truthful and trustworthy.
Article 62(1)(f) pertains to qualification of lawmaker and says a lawmaker must be sagacious, righteous and non-profligate, honest and Ameen, “there being no declaration to the contrary by a court of law”.
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The Supreme Court of Pakistan has ruled that lawmakers disqualified under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution will be unable to contest elections for the rest of their life “until the court declaration disqualifying the lawmaker stands”.
The IHC on Friday ruled that Kashif Chaudhry had submitted a fake degree and therefore he stood disqualified. The court also ordered the ECP to de-notify him.
Earlier in April 2019, the ECP had disqualified Balochistan Minister for Industries Mohammad Khan Toor Utmankhail for possessing a fake degree.
The lawmaker was elected a member of the Balochistan Assembly from PB-4 Loralai in the 2018 general election on a ticket of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP).
The ECP de-seated the minister after the allegation of submitting a fake degree along with his nomination papers was proven against him.
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