Pak HC disqualifies Khawaja Asif from parl over UAE work permit

Islamabad: The Islamabad High Court on Thursday disqualified Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif as member of parliament for concealing work permit of United Arab Emirates (UAE).

This has dealt a blow to the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party ahead of a general election due in a few months.

Mohammad Usman Dar, an activist of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf had last year, filed a petition seeking disqualification of Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif for allegedly hiding his employment with a company in the UAE.

Earlier in April, the court had reserved judgment on Dar's petition. 

Dar had sought disqualification of Asif alleging that the foreign minister did not declare details of his employment contract with a UAE-based company and also concealed the salary details.

The petition claimed that Asif had been an employee of Mech and Elec Co LLC (IMECL) since 2011 where he was working as a special adviser.

It claimed that Asif was entitled to draw salary which was his receivable asset; however, since he did not declare it in the nomination form while contesting the 2013 general elections from NA-110, he was not qualified to remain a member of the National Assembly.

The petition relied upon the recent definition of the Supreme Court regarding receivable salary, on the basis of which it disqualified former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Asif of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz had defeated Dar in the 2013 general elections with a margin of over 21,000 votes.