Plea challenges Vawda’s eligibility to hold office

Separately, a plea has been filed to declare Memon ineligible to hold seat in assembly

KARACHI: A plea was filed in the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday, challenging the eligibility of federal minister Faisal Vawda to hold office.  Advocate Qadir Khan Manadokhel has maintained in the plea that Vawda hid his dual nationality during elections and when the issue was taken to the court, Vawda filed a petition agreeing to surrender his American nationality.

Mandokhel claimed that evidence shows that Vawda had dual nationality at the time of elections. The plea moves the court to declare Vawda ineligible and strip him of the privileges he enjoys as a minister.

Plea against Memon

Separately, petitioner Iqbal Kazmi filed a plea challenging the eligibility of Pakistan Peoples Party leader Sharjeel Memon to run for elections. Kazmi has maintained in the plea that details of Memon’s actual assets and the details he provided to the Election Commission of Pakistan showed discrepancies. He maintained that Memon has omitted the details of his assets worth millions of rupees.

The plea moves the court to seek the details of all assets owned by Memon and order ECP to issue a notification declaring his ineligibility.  The ECP, Sharjeel Memon and others have been nominated as parties in the plea.

Plea challenges KWSB’s overhaul

Meanwhile, another plea was filed in the SHC, challenging the issuance of the notification for the overhaul of Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB). Petitioner Mehmood Akhtar Naqvi has maintained in the plea that the chief secretary formed a new board comprising seven government and seven private individuals through a notification issued on October 7,2019.

Naqvi claimed that KWSB was “an extremely sensitive department” and the inclusion of non-governmental individuals could risk its security. The plea moves the court to declare the overhaul of KWSB illegal and nullify the notification issued in this regard. 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 12^th, 2020.