ISLAMABAD: A large bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan will start from today hearing of a petition to decide if a politician can stand disqualified for life or for five years.
The seven-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa will make it clear if the electoral disqualification will be for life under Article 62 (1) (f) or for only five years as determined under the Election Act of 2017.
The members of the bench are: Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musarrat Hilali.
The petition was filed by Sardar Mir Badshah Khan Qaisarani, who was a candidate from NA-189 and PP-240 Taunsa (Dera Ghazi Khan) in the 2018 elections. He was disqualified for producing a fake degree.
The the court judgement will also decide the political fate of former prime minister and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif who was disqualified for life by the Supreme Court in the Panama case even though Article 62 1 and f do not mention the duration of the disqualification.
While Nawaz Sharif has been acquitted in different corruption cases by the judiciary snd in the Election Act the duration of the disqualification has also been mentioned as five years, the earlier judgement of the apex court disqualifying him for life still stands intact.
He can contest the forthcoming general elections only if the Supreme Court undo its earlier verdict.
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