Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Monday said it will hear the case of lifetime disqualification of politicians on January 2, to decide, among others, the fate of Nawaz Sharif who is eying a record fourth term as prime minister in the February 8 elections.
The seven-member bench headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa will determine once and for all the controversy around the period of disqualification under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution and the amendments in the Elections Act 2017.
A five-member bench of the apex court in a 2018 judgment declared that disqualification under Article 62(I)(f) was for life but changes made in the Elections Act 2017 on June 26 last year by a coalition government led by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) set a bar of five-year only for a disqualified politician. The Supreme Court would now settle the conflict about the period of disqualification.
Former prime minister Sharif was disqualified in the Panama Papers case in 2017 and was out of politics until the amendment in the election laws allowed his party to clamour that his period of disqualification was over. His rival Imran Khan, who was disqualified in the Toshakhana case last year, also was hit by the same law.
The controversy landed in the Supreme Court when last month during the hearing of a petition moved by Sardar Mir Badshah Khan Qaisarani, who had filed nomination papers from constituency NA-189 and PP-240 Taunsa (Dera Ghazi Khan) in 2008 and 2018 elections, respectively. He was disqualified for producing a fake graduation degree.
During the hearing, the chief justice remarked that the apex court verdict on lifetime disqualification and the amendments made to the Elections Act, 2017 could not co-exist. He further stated that discrepancies in the Supreme Court’s interpretation and the law could result in confusion in the upcoming general elections.
He referred the issue to the committee of the apex court which set up a seven-member bench to address the lacunae once and for all. The outcome would decide the future of both Sharif and Khan as well as many other politicians.
However, Khan’s case is different as his disqualification has not attained finality. The cricketer-turned-politician’s appeal against the disqualification is still pending.
However, Sharif’s case was final until the period of disqualification was reduced to five years.
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