Islamabad (Staff Report/Agencies): The Supreme Court on Friday issued a detailed judgement in former foreign minister Khawaja Asif’s disqualification case.
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.
In the 22-page judgment, the top court ruled that the politician cannot be labelled dishonest for omitting to declare a small amount under Article 62 (1) (f) of the Constitution.
“Neither a case of conflict of interest is made out nor has any wrongdoing associated with any asset belonging to the petitioner has been established,” the judgment read.
The detailed judgment added that if the PML-N leader had rendered legal advice on phone, PTI candidate Usman Dar has failed to demonstrate that the petitioner or any of his family members own any shares in the foreign company which has financial dealings with the Federation of Pakistan and their competing financial interests have undermined the impartiality of the petitioner by leaking any information to the said company or unduly benefited it in any manner that falls within the ambit of conflict of interest.
“It has also not been established that the petitioner, by using his official position, was instrumental in extracting some undue benefit from the federal government in favour of the UAE Company,” says the verdict.
Asif had challenged the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) verdict regarding his disqualification by in the apex court.
