Former PM Nawaz Sharif and daughter Maryam Nawaz
PHOTO: FILE
A five-member bench of the apex court – headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah -- on February 14 reserved the judgment.
The Supreme Court has maintained its tradition by announcing verdicts in high profile cases on Friday.
The ruling will be significant for numbers of parliamentarians, including former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and PTI leader Jahangir Tareen, who have been disqualified under Article 62 (1) (f) of the constitution.
Numbers of lawyers representing different parliamentarians appeared before the bench and gave their opinions.
SC word on ineligibility period likely before polls
Two amicus namely - Muneer A Malik and Ali Zafar - did not endorse lifelong disqualification. Asma Jahangir late, Sakindar Bashir Mohmand, Sardar Aslam, Kamran Murtaza etc also opposed lifelong disqualification under this provision of the constitution.
Nawaz Sharif while giving written statement had contended before the Supreme Court that disqualification under Article 62 “is confined only to the election in question and not perpetual”.
However, Babar Awan advocate had strongly argued that the disqualification under Article 62 (1) (f) of the constitution should be lifelong.
Interestingly, Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) for Pakistan Ashtar Ausaf Ali while giving arguments had said no duration of disqualification is given in the Constitution. He stated that it is parliament which can determine the time duration.
“A declaration under Article 62(1)(f) does not carry a time limit, nor does it prescribe the mechanism for revisiting such a declaration. Therefore, till such time the parliament makes such provisions, the declaration shall continue,” the AG added.
The legal experts also predict that the larger bench may adopt a similar view by saying that unless prescribed by legislature, the disqualification will continue in similar way and will not go away by efflux of time. It is for the parliament and not the courts to prescribe or attempt to give a time period for such disqualification.
Challenges facing nation’s judiciary
During the hearing, two judges -- Justice Sheikh and Justice Ahsan -- were consistently raising this question that how the affects of court’s declaration on ‘sadiq’ and ‘ameen’ will be ended after the specific time.
The experts believe that the ruling will be more important for Tareen than Nawaz Sharif as he is facing trial in corruption cases, where, he could not spare from convictio.
The apex court disqualified Sharif as prime minister in the landmark judgment in the Panama Papers case on July 28, 2017. The top court also disqualified the PML-N’s supremo to hold the party’s top slot on February 21 this year.
Similarly, on December 15, 2017, while the SC found party chief Imran Khan to be honest, it disqualified general secretary Jahangir Tareen. Neither the PTI nor PML-N had welcomed the top court’s judgment.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had disqualified parliamentarians for possessing fake graduation degrees and dual nationality.
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