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ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC), announcing its reserved verdict on Monday, declared lifetime disqualification for lawmakers under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution null and void.
The decision was passed by a majority of 6:1.
A seven-member larger bench, headed by the CJP and comprising Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musarrat Hilali, announced the reserved verdict on a set of petitions seeking to determine whether the disqualification period for a lawmaker was for five years or a lifetime.
“We will try to come up with a shorter order as soon as possible. Probably not today but it will be very soon, God willing,” Justice Isa had said as he wrapped up the proceedings.
With elections fast approaching, the SC sought to 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 SC, on January 5, reserved its decision in the matter related to the re-examining of the lifetime disqualification of lawmakers under Article 62 (1) (f) of the Constitution with Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Qazi Faez Isa favoring the “original Constitution”, lamenting “encroachments” made into the country’s bill of rights over the years.
The supreme court decided to step in and decide whether a lawmaker’s disqualification under Article 62(1)(f) should last for their entire lifetime or the five years specified by the Elections Act due to discrepancies between court rulings and parliamentary legislation.
The Constitution was amended by previous military dictator Gen. Ziaul Haq to include Article 62(1)(f), which is the source of the disqualification dilemma. But the matter became more well-known after former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was permanently barred from office in the Panama Papers case by a higher court of the Supreme Court.
