SC raises doubt over Vawda's 'cancelled passport'

How can a cancelled passport be proof of relinquishment of citizenship, asks SC

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court resumed the hearing of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Faisal Vawda's appeal against his life-long disqualification in the dual nationality case and expressed reservation over another supposedly false statement.

The former minister’s counsel, Waseem Sajjad, referred to Vawda's US passport and said that the returning office (RO) was relieved to see that it had been cancelled.

However, Justice Ayesha Malik responded by saying that the cancelled passport was expired, adding that the RO was shown the passport in 2018, which had already expired in 2015.

“If a new passport is made, the old one gets cancelled. How can a cancelled passport be proof of relinquishment of citizenship?” she questioned.

Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial remarked that the matter has become quite serious, while Justice Mansoor Ali Shah added that yet another lie by the PTI leader has been exposed.

Read SC turns down Vawda's request to suspend ECP ban

Vawda’s lawyer argued that the text of the affidavit claimed that he does not have a passport from any other country, to which Justice Mansoor clarified that in the affidavit, a passport meant citizenship of another country.

Justice Ayesha added that the number of passports on the record is different from the cancelled ones, adding that it was clear that a new passport was issued after the old one had expired.

Following the remarks by the bench, Vawda’s counsel asked for more time for preparation.

Justice Mansoor said that the questions will likely remain unanswered in the next hearing as well. The hearing was then adjourned till next week.

Dual nationality case

In February this year, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) disqualified Faisal Vawda for life from parliament for submitting a false affidavit.

According to the decision announced earlier this year, Vawda, who resigned from his MNA seat to become a senator in elections last year, was also told to return all the perks and privileges he received as a member of the National Assembly.

The PTI senator was disqualified by the election watchdog for violating Article 62(1)(f) which pertains to being "sadiq (truthful) and "amin" (honest). The article provision sets the precondition for a member of parliament and is the same provision under which former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was disqualified by Supreme Court on July 28, 2017, in the Panama Papers case.