ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on 2nd August will take up a review petition regarding the disqualification of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on the basis of holding dual nationality and Iqama.

A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, and comprising Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, and Justice Muneeb Akhtar will hear Roshan Ali Buriro’s petition under Article 62(1) (f) of the Constitution for possessing dual nationality, as well as, having an Iqama.

The Supreme Court on November 6, 2019 by a majority of two to one had issued a notice to Murad on the review petition. On January 23 that year, a SC bench, also headed by Justice Bandial, had rejected a petition of the same petitioner on the grounds that the political rivals should seek remedy from appropriate forums and also questioned the April 6, 2013 order of the returning officer (RO) that had disqualified Murad under Article 62(1) (f) of the Constitution by stating that the RO was not a court of law.

Justice Bandial, who had authored the verdict, also noted that Murad had applied for renouncing his citizenship on September 29, 2012, and got a certificate from the Canadian authorities about cancellation of his citizenship on July 18, 2013.

The judgment had noted that the RO in his order did not mention any finding in terms of wrongdoings and; therefore, his order was ineffective to impose a disqualification under Article 62(1) (f).

Justice Bandial had rejected the plea with an observation that the chief minister did not suffer from a lifetime bar under Article 62(1) (f) and; therefore, he was eligible to contest the 2018 general elections.

Buriro in his review petition requested the apex court to set aside the January 23, 2019 order since it contained errors of law and facts apparent on the face of the record, which had crept into the impugned order resulting in serious miscarriage of justice.

“Thus, the Jan 23 is liable to be reviewed in the interest of justice, especially when one of the members of the bench had held that it was a fit case for the grant of leave against the July 20, 2018 order of the Sindh High Court (SHC),” the review petition argued.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022