Rehman MalikPak politician, Interior Minister under the Gilani government. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Nawaz Sharif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. He had to give up the interior ministry job because he held dual Brit citizenship.
's counsel, Barrister Anwar Mansoor, on Thursday said that the Supreme Court had not disqualified his client through its verdict on the dual nationality case, adding that, it was up to Senate Chairman Nayyar Hussain Bukhari to decide on Malik's membership, DawnNews reported.
Speaking to media representatives after the court's verdict in the said case, Mansoor said Malik remained a senator as well as a minister, adding that, the court had forwarded the matter to the Senate's chairman.
The Senate's chairman would assess the legal requisites and implications and then decide on Malik's membership, Mansoor said.
Responding to a question, the counsel said the decision pertaining to initiation of criminal proceedings against Malik would be taken by a concerned court.
On the occasion, Malik, who was accompanying his counsel, said he respected the decision of the Supreme Court.
Earlier today, the Supreme Court ruled that politicians holding dual nationalities were not eligible to hold any public officers and declared all such politicians as disqualified.
Ruling that Rehman Malik was a British citizen until May 29, 2012, the verdict stated that the PPP leader was not transparent with respect to his statements and could no longer be considered 'sadiq' and 'ameen'.