The Election Commission has fined Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda for failing to appear before the commission in the disqualification case against him.
A fine of Rs50,000 was imposed on him on Tuesday by a five-member bench, headed by Sikandar Sultan Raja.
The federal minister has been summoned in person at the next hearing on February 24.
The ECP stopped Vawda’s lawyer from presenting his arguments in the case.
We gave him a chance to explain his US citizenship but he has been trying to delay the case, the bench remarked.
The commission is thinking of seeking the help of other investigating agencies because of the lack of cooperation from Vawda’s end.
Disqualification case
The petition has been filed by Amun Taraqqi Party chief Faiq Shah. He has claimed that the lawmaker should be disqualified under Article 62(i)(f) of the Constitution because he lied in his nomination papers for the 2018 General Election.
A news report recently revealed that Vawda filed his nomination papers on June 11, 2018 when he still held US nationality. His papers were approved on June 18, 2018. The federal minister had filed papers to give up his US citizenship on June 22 and he was issued a certificate on June 25. The process usually takes weeks or even months, according to The News.
Article 62(i)(f) deems it necessary for all members of Parliament to be sadiq and ameen. They are prohibited from concealing information about their assets.
On the other hand, Article 63(1)(c) of the Constitution says that “a person shall be disqualified from being elected or chosen as, and from being, a member of Parliament if he ceases to be a citizen of Pakistan or acquires the citizenship of a foreign state.”
On October 17, 2018 two PML-N leaders were disqualified by the Supreme Court for holding dual nationalities. Sadia Abbasi and Haroon Akhtar had dual citizenship when they filed their nomination papers, the court said.
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