Lifelong disqualification: Faisal Vawda approaches SC against ECP's verdict

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) Faisal Vawda filed on Friday a petition in the Supreme Court (SC) over the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) decision to disqualify him for concealing his dual nationality, Aaj News reported.

In the petition, Vawda said that he did not hide anything from the ECP and had also submitted his canceled US passport. The petition said that the ECP did not have the power to disqualify him for life and that it was not a competent court of law.

He requested the SC to annul the ECP's decision and restore his senatorship.

Earlier in February, a three-member ECP bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja comprising Nisar Durrani and Shah Muhammad Jatoi had disqualified Vawda for concealing his dual nationality.

The bench had directed Vawda to return the salary and other benefits he had received as an MNA within two months. The commission also withdrew the notification declaring the PTI leader's victory on a Senate seat in polls held in 2021.

Following the decision, Vawda had approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC), saying that he was disqualified by the ECP under article 63(1) (f) without fulfilling the constitutional requirements.

He also stated that the ECP announced its verdict without listening to his point of view, and requested the IHC to nullify the commission's decision regarding his disqualification.

Vawda moves IHC against disqualification

He continued that according to the SC, the disqualification of a person under Article 62(1)(1) of the constitution must be based on oral or documentary evidence and that such a restriction is implicit in Article 10A of the Constitution, which states that both the processes and fair trial are a fundamental right in lawful judicial proceedings.

However, the IHC had turned down his plea.