‘Discrepancy’ between SC’s judgment on lifetime disqualification and amendment in election law: hearing today

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court will hear the discrepancy between the Supreme Court’s judgment on lifetime disqualification under Article 62(1)(f) of the constitution and the amendment made in the Election Act, 2017, today (Tuesday).

A seven-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, 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 will hear the matter.

The SC registrar office by the order of the Committee under Section 2(1) of the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023 has constituted the bench.

In 2018, a five-judge bench of the apex court, comprising former chief justice Mian Saqib Nisar, Justice Sh Azmat Saeed, ex-CJP Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ahsan and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, had unanimously held that disqualification handed down under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution is for life.

Under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution, which sets the precondition for a member of parliament to be “Sadiq and Ameen” (honest and righteous), former prime minister and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif was disqualified by the SC bench on July 28, 2017, in references pertaining to the Panama Papers. Similarly, former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Tareen was disqualified by a separate bench of the apex court under the same provision.

According to the Attorney General for Pakistan office, the amendment made in Section 232 of the Election Act, 2017 will override the Supreme Court’s verdict of lifetime disqualification. The lawyers have opinion that Section 232 of the Elections Act has not been challenged so far. This issue will cause confusion to the returning officers in the upcoming elections.

CJP Faez Isa while heading a three-judge bench, which heard the disqualification case of a former MPA of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Meer Badshah Khan Qaisrani, who was disqualified for concealing assets in 2014, noted that there is discrepancy between the Supreme Court judgment on lifetime disqualification under Article 62(1)(f) of the constitution and the amendment made in Election Act, 2017.

Justice Faez said the Supreme Court’s verdict on lifetime disqualification and the amendments made to the Elections Act, 2017 could not co-exist, adding the discrepancies in the SC’s interpretation and the law could result in “confusion” in the upcoming general elections, therefore, referred the matter to the judges’ committee for the constitution of a bench on the issue of disqualification.

Justice Faez also observed that the SC had two opinions on lifetime disqualification. “Disqualification in NAB [National Accountability Bureau] cases appears to be strict. How long will the disqualification be in a murder case?” he questioned.

Justice Athar Minallah, a member of the bench, had questioned whether it was feasible to hear it now that the next general elections were right around the corner.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024