SC moved for Rehman Malik’s disqualification

ISLAMABAD:
A petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Monday seeking directions to the Sindh High Court (SHC) to decide a pending plea seeking the disqualification of Interior Minister Rehman Malik.
The petitioner, Iqbal Haider, submitted that he had filed a petition in the SHC for disqualification of the interior minister, as his conviction stood intact after the NRO was declared null and void by the Supreme Court on December 16, 2009.
He said the SHC was not proceeding on his petition on the grounds that the NRO case was pending for adjudication in the SC.
The petitioner said he had pleaded before the high court that the SC had not granted any stay on the implementation of its judgement on the NRO, instead the SC had repeatedly directed that its verdict on the NRO be implemented in true letter and spirit.
Even then, he said, the high court was not hearing his petition.
He said he had formally sent a request to the Senate chairman to move a reference for Malik’s disqualification, which he did not.
The petitioner mentioned in his plea that the Rawalpindi Accountability Court had found Malik guilty in absentia in two references in 2004, but after the NRO was promulgated, the cases against him were withdrawn.
However, the cases were reopened after the SC decision on the NRO, and because the Lahore High Court had dismissed the petitions filed by him on May 17, he still remained a convict, the petitioner added.
He submitted that though President Asif Ali Zardari had pardoned Malik, the offence committed remained unchanged, and so was the conviction, making Malik liable for disqualification.