ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday dismissed the petition of Senator Faisal Vawda against his disqualification case in Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) declaring the plea as non maintainable.
In its written order, the court said the Supreme Court had also given directives to members Parliament for submission of affidavits along with their nomination papers to ECP. The petitioner, the order said, had not challenged the decision of single member bench dated March 3, 2021.
It further said the submission of false affidavit was not only violation of Article 62 and 63 of the Constitution but it had serious consequences.
The court directed the ECP to complete its report on the matter within 60 days without any delay and also instructed Faisal Vawda to fully cooperate with the commission.
Earlier, Vawda’s lawyer Hasnain Ali Chohan appeared before the court of Chief Justice Athar Minallah and adopted the stance that ECP was bound to decide the case against his client within 60 days after he was being elected.
The case in ECP against Faisal Vawda had become invalid, he added. The chief justice asked under what law the petitioner was making this claim to this the lawyer said the ECP could decide the matter in 60 days under Election Act, 2021.
The lawyer prayed the court to stay the proceeding of ECP in disqualification case and declared its order dated October 12, as illegal. The court asked what the fear the petitioner has, he should prove himself as right before ECP. Let the ECP hear this case, the court said. Justice Minallah asked whether the petitioner wanted this court to decide the matter. Whether this case was not filed in 60 days , he questioned.
The bench inquired the petitioner that how many times he had sought adjournment from ECP. Whether the senator submitted its reply to ECP, it further asked. The court, subsequently, dismissed the case declaring it non maintainable. Vawda had filed the petition against the orders of ECP for rejecting his request to stop proceeding on his disqualification case. The complainant had adopted the stance that Mr, Vawda had hide information from ECP regarding his dual nationality.