Disqualification duration case: Supreme Court reserves judgment on Article 62

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court reserved its judgment on appeals regarding the interpretation of Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution to determine the duration of disqualification of a member of parliament.

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar headed the five member bench and comprising senior justices Sheikh Azmat Saeed, Umar Ata Bandial, Ijazul Ahsan and Sajjad Ali Shah took up a set of 13 appeals.

Attorney General of Pakistan Ashtar Ausaf also appeared before the bench to attend the hearing and submitted his arguments.

During the hearing, Justice Sheikh Azmat questioned whether the disquisition will be for life under Article 62 (1) (f). In response, the attorney general said that quantum of punishment was not clearly defined in this article.

Those parliamentarians, who were disqualified in the fake degrees cases, are also among the petitioners. The applications were pending with the apex court for over one year as these were last taken up by then chief justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali.

After the disqualification of former premier Nawaz Sharif and PTI leader Jahangir Tareen under Article 62 (1) (f), the debate regarding disqualification period took momentum.

The court had summoned Nawaz Sharif, Jahangir Tareen, and others to take part in the proceedings, but former prime minister excused from participating in the case.

The article does not specify any time period after which the disqualified person can take part in the election.

Political and legal experts say the ruling on the case will have a significant impact on politics as it will decide the fate of a number of politicians.

The court’s verdict will also help end the controversy once and for all over the period of the disqualification.