ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has constituted a six-member committee to examine the matters of civil servants having dual nationality and submit its report within two weeks.
The committee is headed by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) director general and comprising Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) member, National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) chairman, Immigration and Passports director general, additional secretary interior and additional secretary establishment division.
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A three-member Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Ijazul Ahsan issued instructions while hearing a suo motu case pertaining to dual nationality held by some civil servants.
The court also directed Nadra to develop software to examine the dual nationality of civil servants. The court directed the committee to submit its report till March 25, and later adjourned the hearing till January 26.
During the hearing, the chief justice observed that the persons having dual nationality could not become members of parliament and inquired that how many senators possessed dual nationality.
The attorney general (AG) told the court that four senators-elect, including Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) Chaudhry Sarwar, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s sister Sadia Abbasi, Nuzhat Sadiq and Haroon Akhtar Khan possessed dual nationality.
ECP’s secretary Babar Yaqoob told the court that Chaudhry Sarwar held UK nationality, while Nuzhat Sadiq and Sadia Abbasi held US nationality. He said Haroon Akhtar had denied holding a foreign nationality, however the interior ministry had confirmed that he was a Canadian citizen.
During the hearing, the establishment secretary submitted a report according to which a total of 127 officers of federal ministries and divisions held dual nationality. The court directed the secretaries of all these ministries and divisions to appear on next hearing.
According to the report, the number of civil servants in BPS-17 and above holding dual nationality is 64 in Punjab, five in Sindh, nine in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), eight in Balochistan, 28 in Azad Kashmir and one in Gilgit-Baltistan.
During the proceedings, the chief justice noted that any civil servant found guilty of hiding information about dual nationality will be removed from the position. He also noted that the Supreme Court judges were not allowed to hold dual nationality due to the sensitive nature of their job, adding that compilation of data pertaining to dual nationality of government officers was very important.
During the hearing, the chief justice directed the principal secretary to the prime minister to submit a report on any dual nationals working in the prime minister’s secretariat.
It is pertinent to mention that the administration of Federal Board of Revenue has already issued directives to all the department heads to submit the details of the Customs and Inland Revenue officers of BS-17 and above who have dual nationality.
