ISLAMABAD      -        The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Thursday issued its detailed judgment in a matter wherein it had already turned down the petitions seeking disqualification of former president Asif Ali Zardari and Federal Minister Fawad Chaudhary as members of the Parliament. A single bench of IHC comprising Chief Justice of IHC Justice Athar Minallah issued the detailed verdict in the petitions filed by the PTI leader Usman Dar and PTI MPA from Karachi Khurram Sher Zaman, who sought disqualification of Asif Ali Zardari and in another petition challenging the eligibility of Fawad Chaudhary alleging him for not declaring his assets. In the verdict, the judge said that any error in an elected representative’s disqualification judgment results in irreparable harm. He added that the Parliament can create its own mechanism for holding representatives accountable. He also said that as a judge, I do not claim supremacy over the elected representatives. The high standard of Sadiq and Amin does not exist for any office holder other than the elected representatives. He added that this measure is not even for the unelected people under whose government, half the life of this country has passed. The judge said that disqualification under Article 62 (1)(f) has profound implications. The Parliament can form its own mechanism of self-accountability for the elected representatives. The judgment said hat Fawad Chaudhry and Asif Ali Zardari are not convicted by any court and disqualification of both the public representatives has been sought on disputed facts. It continued that determining the disputed facts requires investigation and political opponents of both the representatives will benefit during the investigation. It also said that if both are declared eligible after the investigation, there will be no compensation for them for the damage they suffered and the courts’ involvement in such investigations undermines public confidence in the elected representatives. The judge said that the courts getting into these matters also waste the time of the ordinary litigants. Referring to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker Khawaja Asif’s disqualification, Justice Minallah stated that he was disqualified by the same court but the Supreme Court accepted his appeal seven months later. He maintained that however, in the meanwhile the people residing in Khawaja Asif’s constituency remained deprived of representation and he had to face political loss and infamy. He emphasized that the people should be empowered to decide who will represent them and that only the people can decide which elected representative is honest and trustworthy. PTI leaders Khurram Sher Zaman Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) Sindh and Usman Dar filed two identical constitutional petitions against PPP Co-Chairman Asif Zardari under Article 184(3) of Constitution through their counsel Advocate Sikandar Bashir Mohmand and cited Asif Ali Zardari Member National Assembly (MNA), Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and Secretary National Assembly as respondents. In their petition, they contended that Asif Zardari is neither honest nor ameen nor righteous nor sagacious in terms of Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution and also Section 231 of the Election Act. Therefore Respondent No 1 (Asif Zardari) is not qualified to be elected or chosen as a Member of the National Assembly (MNA). The petitioners prayed to the court to hold and declare that PPP co-chairman is permanently disqualified from being and shall forthwith cease to be MNA. They requested the court to declare that Zardari is not qualified to be elected or chosen or to officiate as or exercise powers of the ‘Party Head’ within the meaning of Article 63A of the Constitution. Similarly, in the matter of Fawad Chaudhary, the petitioner, an anchor for a private TV channel, claimed in his petition that the minister concealed his assets when declaring them to the Election Commission of Pakistan and hence, should be disqualified under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution. “That Respondent No 1 (Fawad Chauhdry ), with malafide intention and ulterior motives, concealed his assets, cost of assets and provided wrong and false statement of his own and spouses’ assets and their cost in FORM-B( statement of Assets and Liabilities) along with Nomination Papers,” said the petition. It prayed to the court to disqualify the minister under Article 62 (1) (f) from holding public office as he had not disclosed documents containing his proprietary information. It also requested the court to order lodging of a criminal case against him and withdrawal of all privileges granted to him as a minister. Besides Fawad, the petitioner also made the ECP, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and others as respondents in his petition.