ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday dismissed a case seeking the disqualification of Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.
ECP announced its reserved verdict on petition filed by leader of the Opposition Dr Shahzad Waseem which sought to disqualify PML-N leader.
Announcing the verdict on Monday morning, the commission remarked that per the ECP rules, disqualification does not apply if the oath is not taken within two months after being elected.
It is pertinent to mention here that on September 27, 2022, Advocate Azhar Siddique, who had previously filed a plea with the ECP seeking Dar’s disqualification, had withdrawn it, saying he would approach a higher forum to pursue the case.
CASE BACKGROUND:
Earlier, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) reserved a verdict on a petition seeking to declare the Senate seat of former finance minister Ishaq Dar vacant for not taking the oath.
The counsel argued that the notification of Ishaq Dar’s success in the Senate seat was issued on March 09, 2018, while on March 29 same year, this notification was suspended.
After the dismissal of a petition from the Supreme Court, that notification was restored, counsel said. “A government notification was not applicable to him. How could he have taken oath when notification of his success on the seat was suspended,” counsel argued before the ECP panel hearing the case?
It is pertinent to mention here that finance minister Ishaq Dar was elected as a senator in a technocrat seat from Punjab in 2018. He could not take an oath due to his stay in London. However, the SC suspended his membership over his failure to appear in court on May 8, 2018.
