ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court on Thursday disqualified 11 parliamentarians for holding dual nationality and directed the Senate chairman to send a reference against Interior Minister Rehman Malik for his disqualification.The court said that Rahman Malik, in view of his false declaration at the time of contesting Senate election in 2008, cannot be considered sagacious, righteous and honest as a lawmaker is required to be in view of the provision of section 99(1)(f) of Representation of Peoples Act, 1976.The court also directed the interior minister and the eleven other disqualified lawmakers to refund all monetary benefits drawn by them, and ordered the election commission to institute legal proceedings against them for making false declarations while filing their nomination papers.The commission was also directed to examine the cases of all the lawmakers, individually, by obtaining fresh declaration on oath from them that and ensure that they are qualified under article 63(1)(c) of the constitution. The four disqualified members of national assembly (MNAs) are: Ch Zahid Iqbal, Farahnaz Isfahani, Farhat Mehmood Khan and Jamil Ahmad Malik. The five disqualified members of provincial assembly (MPAs) of Punjab are: Muhammad Akhlaq, Dr Muhammad Ashraf Chohan, Ch Waseem Qadir, Ch Nadeem Khadim and Amna Buttar. The ousted Sindh MPAs are: Nadia Gabol and Dr Ahmad Ali Shah. The court in its short order authored by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said that these lawmakers have been disqualified under article 63(1)(c) of the constitution. The said article states: “A person shall be disqualified from being elected or chosen as, and from being, a member of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament), if he ceases to be a citizen of Pakistan, or acquires the citizenship of a foreign State.”The order further said that these MNAs and MPAs were disqualified because they had acquired the citizenship of foreign states; therefore, no question has arisen that needs to be determined by the speakers of their relevant assemblies. “Thus, no reference under article 63(2) is being made. The Election Commission is directed to de-notify their names,” the order said. Later the same day, the election commission issued disqualification notice of these 11 lawmakers.The court noted that the members made false declarations before the election commission while filing their nomination papers and as such they appear to be guilty of corrupt practice in terms of Section 78 of Representation of Peoples Act, 1976. “The election commission is directed to institute legal proceedings against them under section 82 of the Act read with sections 193, 196, 197, 198 and 199 PPC in accordance with law,” the order read. The disqualified members were also directed to refund all monetary benefits drawn by them for the period during which they occupied the public office and had drawn emoluments, including monthly remunerations, TA/DA, facilities of accommodation along with other perks which shall be calculated in terms of money by the secretaries of the senate, the national assembly and the provincial assemblies accordingly. The secretaries were ordered to recover the money from them and deposit it in the public exchequer within two weeks and submit its compliance at the Registrar Office.The senate chairman has been asked to send reference against Rehman Malik under article 63(2) in view of the provision of section 99(1)(f) of Representation of Peoples Act, 1976, which lays down that a person shall not be qualified from being elected or chosen as a member of an assembly unless he is sagacious, righteous and non-profligate and honest.The court said Rahman Malik, giving his conduct, cannot be considered sagacious, righteous and honest within the contemplation of section 99(1)(f) of the Act of 1976. Therefore, for such purposes article 63(p) is to be adhered to because the disqualification incurred by him is envisaged under the law in view of his own statement that he had renounced his citizenship of UK whereas the fact remains that such renunciation along with declaration can only be seen as having been made on 29-5-2012.The interior minister has been directed to refund all monetary benefits drawn by him upto 11-7-2012 for the period during which he occupied the public office. The election commission was directed to institute legal proceedings against Rehman Malik for making false declarations while filing his nomination papers in 2008.The court thus disposed of the petition filed by Syed Mehmood Akhtar Naqvi under article 184(3) of the constitution with the prayer that the parliamentarians having dual citizenship may be declared to be disqualified in terms of article 63(1)(c) of the constitution read with section 14 of the Pakistan Citizenship Act, 1951.Tariq Asad claimed that MNA Sardar Shahjehan Yousaf was the holder of dual citizenship, but when the latter contested the application through his counsel, the former withdrew his application. In the case of Punjab MPA Tariq Mehmood Alloana, the court noted that it had transpired that attempt was being made to get him disqualified with ulterior motives and therefore the proceedings against him were dropped.Meanwhile, Rehman Malik’s counsel said the Supreme Court has not disqualified his client through its verdict on the dual nationality case, and added that Malik remains a senator and a minister. Barrister Anwar Mansoor said it was up to Senate Chairman Nayyar Hussain Bukhari to decide on Malik’s membership. The senate chairman would assess the legal requisites and implications and then decide on Malik’s membership, Mansoor said.