ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said on Monday that Dr Tahirul Qadri should satisfy the court about his dual nationality, as a person having the citizenship of another country cannot show his no-confidence in the parliament of Pakistan.
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| Tuesday, February 12, 2013 From Print Edition |
Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Irfan Qadir, while appearing in the hearing of the petition filed by Dr Tahirul Qadri, supported his right to file a petition in the court. However, he wanted the court to dismiss the petition on merit rather than going into technicalities.
He also made it clear that he had not come across any law which barred dual nationals from filing petitions in the apex court under article 184 (3) of the Constitution. He, however, maintained that he did not agree with the contentions in the petition of Dr Qadri.
The Supreme Court questioned the locus standi of Dr Tahirul Qadri, the chief of the Tehrik-e-Minhajul Quran (TMQ), for filing a petition seeking reconstitution of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on the grounds that the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and the four ECP members had not been appointed in accordance with the law.
The court directed Dr Tahirul Qadri to submit today (Tuesday) a concise statement about his oath of allegiance to the Queen of Canada as well as documents pertaining to his foreign nationality.
Dr Tahirul Qadri had filed a petition in the apex court under Article 184(3) of the Constitution praying to the apex court to declare that the appointment CEC and ECP members was not in accordance with the provisions of Article 213 and 218 of the Constitution hence all these appointment are void ab initio.
On Monday, when the court took up the case, Dr Tahirul Qadri, after taking the rostrum began to argue that, for the first time, he was appearing before the apex court and said that he had taken part in the movement for the restoration of the deposed judges.
The chief justice however, asked Dr Tahirul Qadri to concentrate on his instant case, adding that first of all the court must know the locus standi of the petitioner for filing the instant petition, satisfying the court over what legal justifications he had for filing the petition and what his right of claim was.
CJ asked whether a Canadian citizen could also keep Pakistani citizenship.Dr Tahirul Qadri replied that he was the citizen of Pakistan and Canada and added that the documents relating to immigration would be submitted in due course.
The chief justice further asked him on what basis he acquired citizenship of Canada, asking if he had any threats to his life. The chief justice further asked Dr Qadri under what capacity he had acquired the citizenship of Canada.
“As a religious scholar”, Dr Tahirul Qadri replied, adding that he had applied for the Canadian citizenship along with his family members in 1999 and later acquired Canadian citizenship in 2005 after resigning as member of the National Assembly.
The chief justice however, asked Dr Tahiru Qadri if someone being a foreign citizen could retain the citizenship of Pakistan. Dr Qadri submitted that Pakistani law allows acquiring citizenship of other countries.
Chief Justice said, “You have shown allegiance to that country. As long as you are a citizen of Canada, there is a bar on you to enter the Parliament under Article 63 of the Constitution.”
“If a person cannot enter the Parliament whether he can retain the citizenship of this country”, the chief justice said while citing the case of Interior Minister Rehman Malik.
The chief justice further said that after acquiring citizenship, one had to take an oath of allegiance. “How can somebody, who takes an oath of allegiance to another country, be loyal to Pakistan?”
Dr Tahirul Qadri replied that the court was right to say that there was a bar for dual nationals to enter into Parliament but argued that he has approached the court as a voter that’s why had the legal justification to file a petition in the apex court.
He further contended that Pakistani law gives the permissions to everyone to take citizenship of other countries, adding that Canada is included in the Commonwealth countries and the government’s notification clearly mentioned the name of Canada as well.
During the hearing the Chief Justice asked Attorney General as to whether there was any notification to retain dual citizenship, adding that Dr Sahib has himself admitted that he has acquired Canadian nationality and took oath of allegiance.
During the hearing the chief justice read out to Dr Tahirul Qadri Section 24 of the Citizenship Act regarding the oath or confirmation of citizenship.
Irfan Qadir however said that the court should take judicial notice of Pakistani law.Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed observed that the case entirely circles on locus standi.
Meanwhile, the court directed Dr Tahirul Qadri to submit before it today (Tuesday) a concise statement on the questions of locus standi as well as notification of the government and adjourned the hearing.
Later talking to reporters outside the court, Dr Tahirul Qadri said that the law prohibits only elected representatives from holding dual nationality adding that according to the law, a Pakistani voter can hold nationalities of certain countries.
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