F.P. Report
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court resumed hearing of several petitions regarding the determination of disqualification period under Article 62 (1) (f) of the Constitution on Tuesday.
Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar headed the larger bench comprising; Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah heard 17 appeals against disqualification of lawmakers.
Earlier, the supreme court had ordered former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and PTI’s Jahangir Tareen to attend the hearing in person or through counsel.
Tareen appeared before the court in person whereas neither Nawaz Sharif nor his counsel attended the hearing.
The court shows displeasure over Nawaz absence and warned him of announcing the ex-parte decision on his absence. CJP Saqib Nisar said that the one-sided verdict will also be announced on merit.
Article 62(1)(f) reads: “A person shall not be qualified to be elected or chosen as a member of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) unless-he is sagacious, righteous and non-profligate, honest and ameen, there being no declaration to the contrary by a court of law.”
The article does not specify any time period after which the disqualified person can take part in elections. The appeals are pending with the apex court for over one year as these were last taken up by the Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali.
