Punishment for crime: legislation sole prerogative of Parliament: Qayyum

Senator belonging to the ruling party, Lieutenant General Abdul Qayyum (Retd), Saturday said it is always the prerogative of the Parliament to legislate on any issue or amend an existing law to increase or decrease the punishment for any crime. Talking to Business Recorder, Qayyum said the Supreme Court can interpret the law whereas Parliament can always review it with a new legislation or amend the law.
The Supreme Court has decided to interpret Article 62(1) (f) of the Constitution to determine whether disqualification of lawmakers is for a limited period or for life and has formed a larger bench of Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar to take up identical pleas of several parliamentarians in the matter on January 30. To a question, PML-N Senator Qayyum said that if his party is not satisfied with the judgment of the Supreme Court on the period of disqualification, then it would move a bill in Parliament to fix a period of the applicability of a disqualification from holding of public office.
Recently elected vice chairman of the apex regulatory body of the legal profession in the country Kamran Murtaza acknowledged that Article 62 of the Constitution does not specify the period of disqualification of a Parliamentarian. Murtaza said dozens of cases have been clubbed to decide this legal question. "I personally feel that the apex court should allow parliamentarians disqualified under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution to contest elections and let the public decide their future," he added.
Former Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali while hearing on a matter of disqualification of a parliamentarian expressed surprise as to the possibility that one could be disqualified from participating in elections forever on the grounds of Articles 62 and 63; and maintained that there is a distinct possibility that a disqualified member of Parliament or a common man may reform to qualify under the provisions of the Constitution in future.