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Published 30 May, 2012 07:50am

SC directs Rehman Malik’s lawyer to prove he's not British

ISLAMABAD: Rejecting documents submitted by Interior Minister Rehman Malik in the dual nationality case, the Supreme Court directed the minister's counsel to submit a certificate usually issued by the British government at the time of renouncing citizenship, DawnNews reported.

A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Jawwad S. Khwaja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain was hearing the case on a petition filed by Syed Mehmood Akhtar Naqvi.

During the hearing, Chief Justice Iftikhar said that Farahnaz Ispahani's National Assembly membership had been cancelled for holding dual citizenship and that the court could not provide the minister with special treatment.

Malik's counsel Azhar Chaudhry submitted documents pertaining to the minister renouncing his British citizenship.

The documents were rejected by the bench and Chief Justice Iftikhar asked the counsel why the paperwork that the court had ordered submitted was not produced.

Justice Khwaja said the court's orders were not being implemented upon and were in turn being ridiculed.

Chief Justice Iftikhar reiterated that the Constitution did not allow dual nationals to become members of parliament.

The court was informed that MNA Zahid Iqbal was a dual passport holder responding to which the chief justice said that one could be sentenced to six months in prison for that reason.

In this regard, the court directed authorities to produce details at the upcoming hearing of the case.

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