Once again, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has asked all the lawmakers of Pakistan including the parliamentarians and members of the provincial assemblies to share with the Commission their wealth details as well as those of their spouses and dependent children not later than the coming Tuesday (December 31).

In the ongoing year, the electoral body has repeatedly asked the legislators to submit their wealth details but scores of lawmakers are yet to submit their statements of assets and liabilities with less than a week remaining for the related deadline to expire, sources in ECP told Business Recorder.

Constitutionally, the lawmakers are bound to submit their yearly statements of assets and liabilities and those of their spouses and dependent children as on each year's June 30, a mandatory requirement under Section 137 of the Elections Act, 2017.

This section reads, "Submission of statement of assets and liabilities.- (1) Every Member of an Assembly and Senate shall submit to the Commission, on or before 31st December each year, a copy of his statement of assets and liabilities including assets and liabilities of his spouse and dependent children as on the preceding thirtieth day of June on Form B.

"(2) The Commission, on the first day of January each year through a press release, shall publish the names of Members who failed to submit the requisite statement of assets and liabilities within the period specified under sub-section (1).

"(3) The Commission shall, on the sixteenth day of January, by an order suspend the membership of a Member of an Assembly and Senate who fails to submit the statement of assets and liabilities by the fifteenth day of January and such Member shall cease to function till he files the statement of assets and liabilities.

"(4) Where a Member submits the statement of assets and liabilities under this section which is found to be false in material particulars, he may, within one hundred and twenty days from the date submission of the statement, be proceeded against for committing the offence of corrupt practice."

The ECP, every year, makes public the wealth details of the legislators, their spouses and dependent children of the previous fiscal year.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019