News Desk |
The petition was filed on Saturday in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) against Fawad Chaudhry by Pakistani journalist Sami Abraham, seeking his disqualification under Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution. The petition states that Fawad Chaudhry concealed his agricultural lands and their earnings in his hometown while submitting his nomination papers with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
A petition to disqualify Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry was submitted in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Saturday.https://t.co/Rcvl2X3Tr6
— Daily Times (@dailytimespak) August 31, 2019
Sami Abraham’s petition pleads with the court to disqualify Federal Minister Fawad Chaudhry under Article 62 (1) (f) from holding public office as he failed to honestly disclose documents containing his complete proprietary information. It has urged the court to officially lodge a criminal case against him and withdraw all privileges granted to him as a minister. The petition calls on the Election Commission of Pakistan to produce a notification for Chaudhry’s disqualification. Along with Fawad Chaudhry, the petition also named the Chief Election Commissioner Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan and the Speaker of National Assembly Asad Qaiser as concerned parties.
Read more: Fawad Chaudhry loses cool, slaps anchorperson Sami Ibrahim
Fawad Chaudhry and Sami Abraham have been in the spotlight over the past few months with news of Chaudhry slapping the journalist at a wedding in Faisalabad circulating. Tensions between the Federal Minister for Science and Technology and anchorperson Sami Abraham intensified after the latter accused the former of slapping him at a wedding event in Faisalabad. According to Ibrahim, the minister swore at him, slapped him and left the venue. The incident, which was most likely an extension of the ongoing spat between the two, happened at the wedding ceremony of 92 News owner Mian Rasheed’s daughter.
On July 5, Chaudhry filed a defamation suit against the journalist for making “false allegations” against him “without any legal justification in order to defame and blackmail him”. As per Chaudhry’s petition, a “series of continuous defamatory allegations were made by accused as [a] TV anchor and on social media”. The minister, in his suit, claimed that Ibrahim had alleged that the minister was working in collusion with India’s spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) against the interests of Pakistan and “a conspiracy has been hatched to dismantle [the prime minister] PM of Pakistan and the Government.”