The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday announced a reserved verdict in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Faisal Vawda's dual nationality case, disqualifying him from holding a seat in Senate, reported Aaj News.

A three member ECP bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja announced the verdict in the case, originally reserved on December 23, 2021.

Vawda was disqualified under Article 62 1 (f) - which relates to the lifetime disqualification of lawmakers -for submitting a fake affidavit while filing his nomination papers for a NA seat ahead of the 2018 elections. The ECP declared that the PTI leader was not Sadiq and Ameen anymore.

In its decision, the ECP referred to Vawda's conduct during Senate elections, held in March 2021. Ahead of the Upper House of the Parliament's polls last year, the PTI leader resigned from his seat and contested elections as a senator.

Vawda made himself suspicious through this conduct, according to the brief verdict announced by the ECP.

The commission also asked the former federal minister to return two months of salaries and privileges, he availed during his tenure as a lawmaker.

In an attempt to bar ECP from resuming hearings against him, Vawda had approached the Islamabad High Court in November 2021. However, the high court dismissed the former federal minister's plea.

The case

Pakistan Peoples Party MNA Qadir Khan Mandokhail had sought Vawda's disqualification for concealing his dual nationality while submitting his nomination papers to the returning officer for the National Assembly (NA) seat during the 2018 elections. He had also refrained from stating the date of his renunciation of the US nationality despite being asked by the ECP several times.

The ECP conducted 23 hearings of the case, filed on January 21, 2020 and reserved the verdict in December last year.