ISLAMABAD - The Islamabad High Court Thursday issued notices to respondents in petitions challenging the eligibility of three Members of National Assembly of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf including Maleeka Ali Bokhari, Tashfeen Safdar and Kanwal Shauzab.
A single bench of IHC comprising Justice Aamer Farooq conducted hearing of three identical petitions filed by the petitioners including Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Shaishta Pervaiz and Tahira Bukhari and issued notices to Election Commission of Pakistan and three PTI MNAs.
The petitioners prayed to the court that the three MNAs did not meet the criteria to hold membership of the Parliament under Article 62, 63 of the Constitution as they hide information in their nomination papers.
They had claimed in their pleas that MNA Maleeka Bokhari was not eligible to participate in general election as she was holding dual nationality at time of submission of her nomination papers.
The petition stated that she submitted her nomination papers on June 10, 2018 and left the British nationality on June 11. The petitioner also alleged MNA Tashfeen Safdar for hiding the information related to her dual nationality in her nomination papers.
They claimed that the MNA had left the dual nationality in 2013 and in an affidavit she said that she neither hold dual nationality, nor applied for it.
The other petition said that the third MNA Kanwal Shauzab had given wrong information in documents to shift her vote in Rawalpindi from Islamabad. Shaishta’s petition said that Ms Shauzab lives in Islamabad, but when she contested the Senate elections she provided the ECP with incorrect information regarding her permanent residents. She argued that because of this she was not eligible to retain her National Assembly seat under articles 62 and 63.
The petition requested the court to direct the ECP to remove her for not being honest and righteous.
After hearing the arguments, the bench issued notices to the ECP, three MNAs and other respondents to submit reply within one week and deferred the proceedings in this connection.
