ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court is expected to take up on Tuesday (today) an appeal filed by PTI stalwart Faisal Vawda against his disqualification for life.

A three-judge Supreme Court bench, consisting of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, will take up the plea in which Mr Vawda has sought setting aside of a Feb 9 order by the Election Commission declaring him ineligible to contest elections.

The former senator had moved an application on Feb 19 for an early hearing of his appeal. Faisal Vawda said in his appeal that the ECP had given no reason for invo­king Article 62 (1)(f) of the Constitution to disqualify him for life, adding that the commission appeared to be under an impression that any person disqualified under Article 63 (1)(c) (for having dual nationality) would automatically be penalised under Article 62 (1)(f) as well. This interpretation is not correct, he argued.

To incur penalty under Article 62 (1)(f) there must be ‘mens rea’ as well as evidence before a court of law, the petitioner contended, stating that both were missing from the ECP pronouncement. The petition is essentially an appeal aga­inst the Feb 16 rejection by the Islam­abad High Court of a previous challenge to an ECP decision in which the high court had held that the commission was bound to give effect to the apex court’s declarations and that was what it had done.

Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2022