May 27, 2005	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 18, 1426

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ISLAMABAD, May 26: The Election Commission on Thursday dismissed a disqualification reference against former Sindh minister Imtiaz Ahmed Sheikh for allegedly concealing information on assets he holds outside Pakistan.

Moved by Maulvi Syed Iqbal Haider before the Election Commission, the reference was dismissed by Kanwar Muhammad Dilshad, secretary of the EC, on the grounds that the commission assumed jurisdiction to decide disqualification of a member of parliament or the provincial assembly only if a reference was sent to it by the speaker of the assembly concerned.

In his reference, the mover had accused Imtiaz Sheikh of hiding information while filing statement of assets and liabilities before the commission. He had made no mention of the property he owned at 80 Portsea Hall and 39 Portsea Hall, London. “This concealment makes him liable to be disqualified as a member of the Sindh Assembly,” he stated.

Imtiaz Sheikh, who was sacked by Sindh chief minister as revenue minister on charges of corruption, had recently tendered his resignation as general-secretary of Pakistan Muslim League, Sindh. However he was accommodated by the party leadership by appointing him vice-president at the central level.

Iqbal Haider had pleaded before the commission that under Sections 42A, 82 and 94 of the Representation of the People’s Act 1976, Imtiaz Sheikh should be proceeded against for the offence of corrupt practice and therefore should be disqualified from being a member of the provincial assembly of Sindh.

He also stated that a similar disqualification reference was also pending adjudication before the speaker of Sindh Assembly. “A plain reading of Articles 63(2) and 127 of the constitution clearly shows that the Chief Election Commissioner or the Election Commission cannot initiate disqualification proceedings against a member of the parliament or a provincial assembly, unless a reference is made in this behalf by the presiding officer of the concerned house of parliament or a provincial assembly,” the order of the secretary commission said.

The mover also conceded candidly that the CEC was not an appropriate forum for filing of this application, it said. Mr Haider told reporters that he was filing a case for the disqualification of the member before the sessions judge Islamabad under Section 94(1-2-3), seeking three years’ jail for concealing assets.

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