SC adjourns determination of disqualification period case hearing till Feb 8

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned hearing of the case regarding determination of lawmakers disqualification under Article 62(1)(f) is for life or time specific till February 8.

A five-member larger bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar comprising Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah heard the case filed by 17 petitioners seeking determination the duration of disqualification of member of the Parliament on violation of Article 62(1)(f).

During the course of proceedings, Kamran Murtaza, the lawyer for former lawmaker Mir Abdul Ghafoor Lahri informed the bench that he was disturbed over the punishment of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator, Nehal Hashmi.

He informed the court of Hashmi’s punishment, disqualification and inability to hold public office for five years, and one month in prison. To this, the chief justice replied that Hashmi had been accurately punished as per law.

Arguing on the case, he said Article 62 and Article 63 should be read and examined together.

He said according to Article 62(1)(f), the lawmaker would be disqualified for one term. The disqualified person could contest the next by-polls, he added.

The chief justice remarked that the court would have to see what the time limit on the declaration was.

Justice Azmat Saeed remarked that the individual's dishonesty would stand until the declaration of honesty remained.

The chief justice remarked that the bench was supposed to determine the time period of how long the declaration would last.

Kamran Murtaza pointed out that the concept of forgiveness also existed within the law.

He said his client had asked for forgiveness.

Upon this the chief justice remarked that anyone who sought forgiveness should appear before the court.

Justice Azmat Saeed remarked that forgiveness was sought through curse words in disqualification cases.

He asked how could any one be forgiven if abuses were being hurled publicly.

The chief justice observed that there was a method for seeking forgiveness. First, one must accept his or her mistake. They had to accept their dishonesty before the public and there were some people who said they did nothing wrong and that injustice was done to them, he added.

He remarked that he was not speaking about anyone specifically as he was commenting on Mustafa's statements about forgiveness.

He also pointed out that all political parties decided to keep Article 62(1)(f) intact when the 18th Amendment was made to the Constitution.

To this, Kamran Murtaza replied that the parliament did not make any changes because of the fear of religious elements.

"You mean the Parliament got scared? The Parliament is supreme," the chief justice remarked.

"We saw what happened in the Faizabad protest," the lawyer said in response.