Article 62 (1)(f) cannot be applied to every omission, non-disclosure of assets: SC.

Byline: Hasnaat Mailk

The Supreme Court, in its detailed verdict on the Khawaja Asif disqualification case, declared that Article 62 (1)(f) can not be applied to every omission or non-disclosure of assets.

'In our view attributing dishonesty to every omission to disclose an asset and disqualify a member for life could never have been the intention of the Parliament while incorporating Article 62 (1)(f) in the Constitution. All non-disclosures of assets cannot be looked at with the same eye,' said the detailed judgment authored by Justice Faisal Arab in the disqualification case.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) had disqualified PML-N leader Khawaja Asif for life on account of non-disclosure of his assets in nomination papers. However, a three-judge SC bench headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah set aside the high court verdict.

Khawaja Asif disqualified for life by Islamabad High Court

Justice Arab, while authoring the 21-page verdict, said that no set formula can be fixed with regard to every omission to list an asset in the nomination paper and make a declaration of dishonesty and impose the penalty of lifetime disqualification.

'In a judgment from the foreign jurisdiction in the case of Aguilar vs Office of Ombudsman decided on 26.02.2014 by the Supreme Court of Philippines (GR 197307) it was held that dishonesty is not simply bad judgment or negligence but is a question of intention. There has to exist an element of bad intention with regard to an undeclared asset before it is described as dishonest.'

The verdict further says that unless dishonesty is established in appropriate judicial proceedings, Article 62 (1)(f) of the Constitution cannot be invoked to disqualify an elected member for life.

The court also said that intervention through a writ, in the nature of quo warranto, by superior courts in financial matters against an elected member can only be justified when non-disclosure of an asset is meant to conceal wrongdoing.

SC debates if Khawaja Asif can be disqualified for life

'As law does not envisage that every rejection of nomination paper on account of non-disclosure of an asset would lead to disqualification under Article 62 (1) (f) of the Constitution, therefore unless some wrongdoings associated with an undeclared asset is established the outcome of the case would not culminate into disqualification for life,' adds the verdict.

Hence, the court said that Asif cannot...