ISLAMABAD: Wonde­ring how an individual with dual nationality can become a minister when he is not eligible to be elected as a parliamentarian, the Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to Prime Minister Imran Khan and others in a case against the appointment of Syed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari as special assistant to the prime minister on overseas Pakistanis and human resources development.

A three-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar was hearing a petition seeking a restraining order against Mr Bukhari to work as the special assistant to the PM.

Mr Bukhari, popularly known as Zulfi Bukhari, is said to be a close friend of PM Khan. Moved jointly by Muhammad Adil Chattha and Mirza Abdul Moiz Baig, the petition claimed that Mr Bukhari should be disqualified under Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution that deal with the qualification and disqualification of parliamentarians.

The SC issued notices to respondents in the petition which include the name of PM Khan, the federation as well as Mr Bukhari. The court has fixed the case for Nov 16.

During the hearing the CJP asked what portfolio Mr Bukhari held. When he was informed that Mr Bukhari has been made special assistant to the PM, the CJP questioned if an ordinary citizen with dual nationality could become a minister.

When an individual with dual nationality could not become a member of parliament, how could he become a minister, the chief justice observed.

The petitioner argued that with his British nationality Mr Bukhari was a dual national, claiming that this fact had been acknowledged by PM Khan in an interview on a private television channel on June 26. Therefore, the petition says, it is imperative for the government to appoint individuals at high offices whose antecedents should be known and who maintain the highest standards of integrity.

The commands of the law and the constitution should not be compromised at the altar of extraneous considerations, the petition contended, adding that the 1973 rules, pursuant to which special assistants were appointed have been framed by the federal government, in exercise of the powers conferred under Articles 90 and 99 of the constitution.

The petition highlighted that the prime minister’s discretion to appoint a special assistant is subject to the general scheme of the constitution, including Articles 2A, 4, 5, 62 and 63 of the constitution.

In the 2018 Zulfikar Bhutta case, the Supreme Court has held that the chosen representatives of the people while exercising powers and authority of the state ought to exercise the sovereignty of Almighty Allah as his delegates by way of a sacred trust, the petition says.

“Faithful adherence to the provisions of Article 62 of the constitution provides a recipe for cleansing the fountain heads of the State from persons who suffer from character flaws, openly violate the injunctions of Islam, lack adequate knowledge of Islamic teachings, do not practice obligatory duties prescribed by Islam, do not abstain from major sins, not sagacious, righteous, non profligate, honest and ameen or convicted crimes involves moral turpitude or giving false evidence or have worked against the integrity of the country or opposed the ideology of Pakistan.

It is a cardinal principle of law and justice that ‘what cannot be done directly, cannot be done indirectly’,” the petition says.

Thus a person who is otherwise disqualified to become a member of the parliament and, therefore, ineligible to become a minister cannot be given the status of minister of state by appointing as special assistant to the prime minister, the petition says.

Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2018