ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, issued notice to Attorney General for Pakistan to assist on the disqualification of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker from the Punjab Assembly.

A three-judge bench, headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial, granted leave to the appeal of PML-N MPA against the verdict of the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

The bench has already suspended the IHC decision.

The IHC on January 31, 2020 had disqualified the PML-N lawmaker in the Punjab Assembly, Kashif Mehmood, for holding a fake degree.

Abdul Ghafar, a voter of Mehmood’s constituency PP-241, had approached the high court seeking Mehmood’s disqualification under Article 62(1)(f) for submitting a fake degree to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The petitioner had said that Al-Khair University confirmed that Mehmood was never their student.

Mehmood had told the ECP that he had graduated from that university.

Qamar Hussain Shah Sabzwari, appearing on behalf of PML-N MPA, argued that the IHC does not have jurisdiction to disqualify a legislator of the provincial assembly.

He said that the university degree of his client had been declared valid.

Naeem Bukhari, representing the defence side, argued that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) holds election throughout the country, adding, the ECP judgments could be challenged in the IHC.

He contended that the IHC had disqualified the PML-N MNA, Khawaja Asif.

Justice Muneeb remarked that Khawaja Asif was a member of the National Assembly, while the appellant was a member of the provincial assembly.

Justice Bandial asked Naeem Bukhari that his client’s application was not against any notification or order of the ECP.

Justice Muneeb said the jurisdiction issue is very important, which could not be ignored.

The bench; therefore, issued notice to the attorney general to assist the court and adjourned the case for an indefinite period.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021