Islamabad, May 30: Pakistan's Supreme Court today gave Interior Minister Rehman Malik a day to submit documents to back his claim that he had renounced his British nationality.
A three-Judge bench led by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry issued the order while hearing a petition challenging the dual nationality of some members of the two houses of parliament.
The apex court earlier suspended the membership of parliament of Farahnaz Ispahani, the media advisor to President Asif Ali Zardari, for holding US citizenship. During today's hearing, the Supreme Court rejected documents submitted by Malik and said he had only a day to prove he had renounced his British citizenship.
If Malik fails to produce the receipt of the payment made to forgo his British citizenship, he may lose his membership of the Senate or upper house of parliament, experts said. “You are showing us the form. Show us the declaration renouncing his (British) citizenship,” Chief Justice Chaudhry told Malik's counsel, Chaudhry Azhar. The bench directed Attorney General Irfan Qadir to obtain information about members of the national and provincial assemblies who held dual citizenship.
The Attorney General said the court should refer the matter to the executive authority as the case of the lawmakers should be dealt with by the assemblies. Qadir questioned whether the apex court had the mandate to disqualify members of parliament.
He further pointed out that the lawmakers addressed the problems of overseas Pakistanis.
However, the Chief Justice told the Attorney General that there was no need to refer the matter to any other forum as it did not involve misconduct.
The bench later adjourned the case till June 4.
