Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said on Friday that elected representatives cannot discharge their obligations of public representation if they are not honest.
The CJP gave these remarks during the hearing of review petition filed by former MNA Abdul Ghafoor Lehri against his disqualification on Friday.
The CJP remarked, “Public representatives should be truthful. If there is a difference in their preaching and practices, then they would not be able to protect the rights of people. People don’t elect their representatives so that they could speak falsely and conceal the real facts. If public representatives are not upright then they could not discharge their obligations of public representation in a fulfilling manner.”
The CJP further said, “Contesting election on fake degrees is tantamount to playing with the sentiments of people and their expectations. All, including the ECP have rejected his petition. He is an influential person therefore no criminal case has yet to be registered against him.”
Meanwhile, the counsel for Lehri tried to insist that degree of his client was valid. He argued that the way other people were allowed to contest polls, his client should also have been allowed to participate in the elections.
On this the court remarked, “Your degree was declared fake in 2002. You were barred from contesting the polls and were declared disqualified. No new thing or legal point has come up in your petition. Therefore, your review petition is dismissed.”
The court while dismissing the review petition upheld its decision of disqualification Lehri.