Rehman Malik still Senator and Minister for Interior Affairs: Lawyer

Counsel for Rehman Malik Barrister Anwar Mansoor on Thursday said that his client wasn’t disqualified by the Supreme Court, adding that Chairman Senate Nayyar Hussain Bukhari will decide about the matter.

While speaking to the media after the court issued the verdict, the lawyer said that the apex court didn’t disqualify Rehman Malik.

He further said that his client still is a Senator as well as a minister and the court had forwarded the matter to the Chairman Senate.

He observed, “The Senate’s chairman would assess the legal requisites and implications and then decide on Malik’s membership”.

While replying to a query, the lawyer said that the decision pertaining to initiation of criminal proceedings against his client would be taken by a concerned court.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik also present at the occasion, saying that he respected the court’s orders and would able to comment after studying the ruling in detail.

Earlier today, the Supreme Court ruled that lawmakers holding dual nationalities were not eligible to hold any public officers and declared all such lawmakers as disqualified.

Ruling that Rehman Malik was a British citizen until May 29, 2012, the verdict stated that the PPP leader was not transparent with respect to his statements and could no longer be considered ‘sadiq’ and ‘ameen’.

The Senate’s chairman should send a reference against Malik, the court ruled, adding that, the minister’s affidavit for the Senate’s election was not factual.

On July 27, Malik was sworn in as the federal minister for interior. Earlier the same day, Malik had also taken the oath as a member of the Senate.

Malik was elected unopposed in the by-election for the Senate seat vacated by him following a legal battle over his dual nationality. He had subsequently renounced his UK citizenship.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=32981

Posted by Faisal Farooq on Sep 20 2012. Filed under Pakistan, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.