ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday resumed the hearing of a case regarding lifetime disqualification of lawmakers under Article 62(1)(F) of the Constitution.
The apex court had noticed discrepancies regarding the duration of disqualification in the Election Act 2017 and the apex court’s verdict during the last hearing on a petition filed by former PML-N provincial legislator Sardar Meer Badshah Khan Qaisrani last month.
Qaisrani challenged his lifetime disqualification for the fake title in 2007.
The hearing is being conducted by a seven-member larger bench – headed by CJP Isa and comprising Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musarrat Hilali.
Proceedings are broadcast live on the SC website and YouTube channel.
In an earlier hearing on Thursday, CJP Isa noted that expelling anyone from parliament for life was “against Islam”, adding that the court was seeking “clarity” on whether the disqualification period for lawmakers was five years – as per the amendment in the election. 2017 Act — or a lifetime ban under the above article which deals with the criteria for participation in elections.
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CJP Isa said that the solution to this matter is present in Islam.
“The Holy Quran mentions that the position of human beings is very high,” the chief justice said, referring to a verse from Surah Sajdah which explains that human beings are not bad, but their deeds are.
“Disqualifying anyone [for life] is against Islam,” he added.
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The fate of many politicians, including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif and Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) founder Jahangir Tareen, depends on the verdict in this case.
Whether the said politicians can contest the upcoming polls or not will determine the outcome of the case.
The SC conducted the last hearing of this case on January 2, during which CJP Isa advised against holding that a particular party was favored.
Earlier, during a hearing on December 11 last year, CJP Faez Isa had observed that the Supreme Court’s judgment on life disqualification and the changes made in the Election Act 2017 cannot coexist.
He said either the legislation passed by Parliament on the 2017 Electoral Act or the judgment handed down by the Supreme Court would prevail.
“The matter must be settled once and for all,” the CJP observed, referring the matter to a three-member committee constituted under Section 2 of the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023, which decides the disposal of cases before the Supreme Court Bench.
The Supreme Court decided in a judgment from 2018 that every person disqualified under Article 62 paragraph 1 letter f) of the Constitution will be considered disqualified for life.
Later, the former coalition government of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) implemented an amendment to the Elections Act 2017 which retroactively reduced the disqualification of legislators to five years.
Former three-time prime minister Nawaz and IPP chief Tareen are two prominent political leaders who were disqualified for life in June and December 2017 after they were found to be “dishonest” under Section 62(1)(f) of the Act. Constitution.
