SC to announce verdict in Sheikh Rasheed disqualification case on Wednesday
SC to announce verdict in Sheikh Rasheed disqualification case on Wednesday
Haseeb Baloch
LatestPakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court will announce its decision on a plea seeking disqualification of Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rasheed on Wednesday (tomorrow).

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court will announce its decision on a plea seeking disqualification of Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rasheed on Wednesday (tomorrow).

A three-member bench headed by Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and comprising Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah will announce the decision, after reserving its verdict in the case on March 20, 2018.

The petition, filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Shakeel Awan who lost the 2013 general election to Rasheed, claimed that the AML chief mis-declared his assets in his nomination papers and owned the error as well.

During hearing of the petition, Awan’s counsel had argued before the three-member bench that according to the Representation of People’s Act, it was necessary to accurately declare all of one’s assets before contesting elections.

He had asserted that the most recent court case regarding the wrong filling of nomination papers was the 2017 Panama Papers judgment.

Rasheed’s counsel, on the other hand, had contended that his client did not conceal anything and accepted that his client had owned the mistake in valuing his assets.

Justice Qazi Faez Isa had remarked during the hearing that according to the petitioner, whatever the error, the lawmaker should be disqualified.

The question was whether a lawmaker stood disqualified if it was proved that he or she had committed an error while filling out the nomination papers or his/her assets, Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed had observed.