Suspension of sentence does not mean eligibility to contest elections: SC

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that the suspension of a sentence awarded to an election candidate has no impact on his/her disqualification to contest the elections.

A three-judge SC bench that heard the appeal in October last year ruled today that the suspension of a sentence would not make an election candidate eligible to contest the polls.

The court issued its verdict on an appeal filed by PML-N's Gujrat leader Nasir Mehmood and another candidate, who had challenged a 2015 Lahore High Court order that ruled them ineligible to contest the elections for the chairman and vice-chairman of Union Council 3, Gujrat Municipal Corporation.

The judgment authored by Justice Ijaz-Ul-Ahsan stated that the suspension of sentence would have no consequence on the conviction of the appellants for the purposes of being qualified to contest either the local bodies elections or the elections for the Legislative Assemblies.

Interpreting clauses of Article 63 of the Constitution and the Punjab Local Government Act, 2013, the apex court clarified that the portion of sentence actually served by a candidate is of no relevance and their disqualification is attracted on the basis of conviction and sentence awarded as opposed to served.

The appeal was subsequently dismissed.