June 22, 2007	Friday	Jamadi-us-Sani 06, 1428

MULTAN, June 21: A lawyer has sent a reference to the National Assembly seeking disqualification of prime minister and two members of his cabinet. The reference, sent by Supreme Court advocate kanwar Intizar Muhammad khan seeks action against Shaukat Aziz, privatisation minister Zahid Hamid and industries minister Jahngir Tareen.

In his reference, advocate Khan has wrote to the National Assembly speaker that last year he had sent a reference under article 63(20) of the Constitution on the basis of an apex court judgment passed in a constitutional petition (No.9/2006 and CP.No.345/2006) on March 23, 2006. The reference was sent when the detailed judgment was not delivered by the court.

He wrote that Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary, Justice Rana Bhagwan Das, Justice Javed Iqbal, Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, Justice Muhammad Nawaz Abbasi, Justice Tassduq Hussain Jilani, Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad, Justice Hamid Ali Mirza and Justice Karamat Nazir Bandar, declared the privatization of Pakistan Steel Mills as null and void.

In the decision, the letter of acceptance (LOA) by the cabinet committee, comprising Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, and ministers Zahid Hamid and Jahangir Tareen and share purchasing agreement dated April 24,.2006, were also declared as void and of no legal effect.

The lawyer further stated that he received a letter from the National Assembly secretary that the reference could not be considered due to non-availability of detailed court judgment. Now, he stated, the judgment had also been delivered and published in PLD 2006 SC 697, titled as Watan Party vs federation of Pakistan.

He stated the reference may be sent to the chief election commissioner seeking disqualification of the prime minister and his cabinet members.

He further wrote that all the three members, according to Article 62-F of the Constitution, were not sagacious, righteous, honest and Amin. Mr Shaukat Aziz, he stated, also defamed the judiciary through putting reference against the CJP. According to Article 63-G, he stated, the prime minister also stood disqualified as member of the parliament.

He further stated that according to Article 63-C of the Constitution, Mr Shaukat Aziz stood also disqualified as he acquired the US citizenship as the law bars a person holding double nationality could not be member of parliament.