The Supreme Court (SC) reserved on Friday its verdict on the petitions related to lifetime disqualification of lawmakers.

A seven-member larger bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, and Justice Musarrat Hilali heard the case.

The petitions had asked the apex court to determine whether the disqualification period is lifetime or five years.

In his remarks in the previous hearing, CJP Isa said lifetime disqualification under Article 62(1)(F) was determined by an individual’s perception rather than by the Constitution.

CJP said he was determined to resolve the case to avoid confusion over the lifetime or five-year disqualification of lawmakers.

The proceedings are being broadcast live on the Supreme Court’s website on YouTube channel.

CJP Isa has earlier said that the SC intends to wrap up proceedings of lifetime disqualification case “very quickly” to avoid “confusion” for returning officers (ROs), ahead of the general elections scheduled for February 8.

The case will determine whether people disqualified under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution could contest polls in light of the amendments in the Elections Act 2017.

A three-judge committee that included CJP, Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, and Justice Ijazul Ahsan constituted the bench under the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023.

It may also determine whether Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif would be able to contest the upcoming polls.

Nawaz was disqualified for life in 2017 under Under Article 62(1) (f).

According to Article 62(1) (f) of the Constitution, a person shall not be qualified to be elected or chosen as a member of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) “unless — he is sagacious, righteous, non-profligate, honest and ameen, there being no declaration to the contrary by a court of law”.

In the previous Shehbaz Sharif-led government, amendments were made in the Elections Act 2017, limiting the disqualification of lawmakers to five years.