With the upcoming general elections around the corner, a seven-member bench of the Supreme Court will take up the issue of lifetime disqualification tomorrow (January 2).
Headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, the bench comprises Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musarrat Hilali.
The bench will determine once and for all the raging debate on whether aspirants disqualified under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution could contest polls in light of the amendments in the Elections Act 2017.
The law, which sets the precondition for a member of parliament to be “sadiq and ameen” (honest and righteous), is the same provision under which former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was disqualified in the Panama Papers case. Imran Khan was also disqualified under the same article in the Toshakhana case last year.
The legal dilemma arose in view of a 2018 Supreme Court judgement when it shut the doors of parliament permanently for politicians disqualified under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution through a unanimous verdict, ruling that such ineligibility was for life.
But on June 26, 2023, an amendment was brought in the Elections Act 2017, specifying that the period of the electoral disqualification will be for five years, not for life.
More to follow
