Saturday, 22 October, 2022 I 25 Rabi ul Awwal, 1444 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XIII No 113 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition
ECP VERDICT IN TOSHAKHANA REFERENCE
Imran dIsqualIfIed g
pti rules out ‘minus one formula’, vows to thwart plots aginst party chief
ISLAMABAD
I
staff report
n a unanimous verdict, the election commission of pakistan (ecp) on friday disqualified pakistan tehreek-einsaf (pti) chairman and former premier imran khan in toshakhana (gift depository) reference, sparking countrywide protest. in its verdict, the ecp disqualified the pti chief under article 63(1)(p) for making “false statements and incorrect declaration.” the four-member ecp bench, headed by chief election commissioner minister sikander sultan raja declared imran khan’s national assembly seat vacant as it unanimously decided that he had provided incorrect information in the case and disqualified him “for the time being”. the verdict deseated imran as per article-63 (a) and ordered the initiation of criminal proceedings against him for submitting a false statement. however, the ecp shied
g
protests erupt aginst verdict, police manhandle workers, leaders outside ecp office commission, says the respondent had “intentionally and deliberately” violated the provisions contained [in] sections 137, 167 and 173 of the elections act, 2017, as he “has made false statement (sic) and incorrect declaration before the commission in the statement of assets and liabilities filed by him for the year 2020-21”. hence, he attracts disqualification under article 63(1)(p) of the constitution read with sections 137 and 173 of the elections act, 2017, it added. the ecp ruling follows up by saying based on the abovementioned findings, facts available on record and keeping in view the argument of learned counsel for parties herein, “we are of the considered opinion that the respondent has become disqualified under article 63(1)(p) of the constitution read with section 137,167 and 173 of the elections act, 2017, consequently he ceases to be a member of the national assembly of pakistan and his seat has become vacant accordingly”.
Finally! Pakistan exits FATF grey list ISLAMABAD staff report
ISLAMABAD: Legal eagles have raised serious questions over the verdict announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), declaring it a verdict issued in a haste and which could not stand the test in any court of law due to its legal lacunae. Barrister Ali Zafar said that he had been trying to get the order from the ECP and he was given an incomplete order as one member did not sign the verdict. “I needed a copy of the order so as to submit an appeal against the ECP order but was informed that it was an incomplete order as one member did not sign it. Now this is incomprehensible matter that while one member did not sign the order, then this order is illegal. ECP could not release an order until all members don’t sign it. Until and unless all members don’t sign it, it can’t be called an order of the Election Commission of Pakistan,” he said. He said that two pages had been put on the website of the ECP but rest of the pages were yet to be online and were not available. Mian abrar
in a major breakthrough, the financial action task force (fatf) on friday removed pakistan from its ‘grey list’, acknowledging the country’s progress to fully comply with its plan of action. “the fatf welcomes pakistan’s significant progress in improving its aml/cft regime. pakistan has strengthened the effectiveness of its aml/cft regime and addressed technical deficiencies to meet the commitments of its action plans regarding strategic deficiencies that the fatf identified in June 2018 and June 2021, the latter of which was completed in advance of the deadlines, encompassing 34 action items in total. pakistan is therefore no longer subject to the fatf’s increased monitoring process,” a statement issued by the fatf in paris reads. “pakistan will continue to work with apg to further improve its aml/cft system,” it added. the two-day plenary apart from other issues examined the assessment of an on-site team that visited pakistan in september to verify the steps taken by the country to implement the plan of action. in september, a 15-member fatf team quietly visited pakistan, a final step before the country’s exit from the grey list. the findings of the team would be discussed and reviewed in the next meeting of the fatf in its upcoming plenary session. the fatf, in June, had hinted at pakistan’s removal from the grey list after it concluded that pakistan complied with the 34-point plan of action and agreed to send its team for the verification of those steps. pakistan was placed on the grey list by the fatf in June 2018 for ‘deficiencies in its system to curb money laundering and terror financing’. it was first given a 27-point action plan and later another 7-point plan to comply with the fatf’s standards. the major stumbling block was the prosecution of certain unsc designated individuals accused of terror financing. Just days before the June plenary fatf meeting in Berlin, pakistani anti-terrorism court convicted sajid mir in terror financing case, something that convinced the fatf members to acknowledge pakistan’s progress.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 03
CONTINUED ON PAGE 03
away from declaring the deposed premier disqualified for life. the written ruling, a complete version yet to be released by the
CONTINUED ON PAGE 05
Legal wizards raise serious questions over ECP verdict