Dual nationality: commission is bound to follow directives of Supreme Court: ECP chief

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Fakhruddin G Ebrahim has made it clear to government that the commission is bound to follow directives of the Supreme Court. In an exclusive talk with Business Recorder, CEC said the commission has replied to the letter written by Principal law officer Irfan Qadir advising the ECP on Tuesday to take action against the Parliamentarians in accordance with law instead of court's order.
In reply, ECP said that they are under the constitution they are bound to comply with directives of Supreme Court of Pakistan. In his letter addressed to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Fakhruddin G Ibrahim, the Attorney General for Pakistan said that the ECP has exclusive obligation to determine the question of disqualification as per the constitutional provisions and as such the ECP is not to perform its functions on the directions of any court in Pakistan, including the Supreme Court.
Referring to the apex court's recent judgement in dual nationality case, he requested the CEC to proceed in the matter in accordance with the relevant provisions of the constitution while determining whether the Supreme Court is mandated by the constitution to issue directions to the ECP or not.
"As the Principal law officer, I feel compelled to draw your attention to the said decision so as to enable you to take steps in terms of Article 5 of the constitution read with your oath of office for protecting and respecting the constitution", the AGP wrote.
A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on September 20 declared 11 Parliamentarians 'disqualified' as members of Parliament for acquiring citizenship of foreign states and directed the ECP to de-notify the respective memberships of Parliament/Assemblies of these legislators.
The bench found Chaudhry Zahid Iqbal, MNA, Ms Farah Naz Isfahani, MNA, Farhat Mehmood Khan, MNA, Jamil Ahmad Malik, MNA, Muhammad Akhlaq, MPA(Punjab), Dr Muhammad Ashraf Chohan, MPA (Punjab), Ms Nadia Gabol, MPA (Sindh), Chaudhry Waseem Qadir, MPA (Punjab), Chaudhry Nadeem Khadim, MPA(Punjab), Ms Amna Buttar, MPA (Punjab), Dr Ahmad Ali Shah, MPA (Sindh) disqualified from being members of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) and Provincial Assemblies because of their disqualification under Article 63(1)(c) of the Constitution", the court announced in its short order.
The court held that the parliamentarians have to submit a declaration before the elections and if the same turns out to be false, he makes himself liable to be disqualified from being elected or chosen as Member Parliament or a Provincial Assembly for making misstatement or concealment of fact, and also exposes himself to criminal proceedings contemplated under sections 193, 196, 197, 198 and 199 PPC.
The court also held that Interior Minister A Rehman Malik had made false declarations while filing his nomination papers before the Election Commission in the election held in 2008 and directed the Election Commission to institute legal proceedings against him as has been directed in case of other parliamentarians.
An official of ECP said the letter written by AGP was not given much attention in the meeting being held in ECP. He explained that the Supreme Court is the only forum, which interprets the laws of the country. It is obvious that they will act in the light of interpretation of apex court.