After being summoned twice by the Lahore High Court, former minister Rana Asif Mahmood on Thursday appeared before the judge and admitted that he held a Canadian passport.
Recording his statement in a petition that has challenged his election on a provincial assembly seat for having dual nationality, Mahmood said that he was a “Canadian national but not a Canadian citizen”. LHC Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial then directed the PML-N minority MPA to file a written reply by July 9 (Monday).
Challenging Mahmood’s version, Saiful Malook, the petitioner’s counsel, said that according to Section 4 of the Canadian Passport Order 1981 only a Canadian citizen could be issued a Canadian passport.
At the last hearing on June 29, Advocate Jamshed Rehmatullah, Mahmood’s counsel, had submitted that the former minister was ill and admitted in a hospital in Karachi for treatment.
Malook had earlier produced a copy of an overseas identity card issued to Mahmood. He said that the Constitution did not allow a citizen of another country to be elected as a member of assemblies of Pakistan.
At a previous hearing, the chief justice had noted that since the Supreme Court had already suspended the membership of several parliamentarians for holding dual nationalities, the matter needed to be decided quickly.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 6th, 2012.
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Shame on these so called leaders who try to fool public and fool courts. People wake up and recognize these people. Vote with caution