ISLAMABAD: Deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, disgruntled Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Tareen and former President Pervez Musharraf are among several politicians who will be major beneficiaries if the Supreme Court invalidates the life ban from contesting elections. .
The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) has filed a petition in the apex court to quash the permanent disqualification, and its president, Ahsan Bhun, has raised the question: Can the Lifetime Bar be read in Article 62(1)(f)? Is. When the Constitution does not have that much provision in its plain language?
A few days after his election, he had announced his intention to challenge the bar. The new Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Umar Ata Bandiyal, will consider the petition for disposal. Article 62(1)(f) states that no person shall be eligible to be elected or to be elected as a member of Parliament unless he is "skillful, righteous, non-profit, honest and amen", to the contrary No announcement is being made. a court of law.
Apart from high-profile Nawaz Sharif, Tareen and Musharraf, dozens of others who were disqualified by the Supreme Court for holding fake degrees will also benefit from a favorable verdict on the SCBA petition.
Nawaz Sharif and Tareen were disqualified for life in 2017, while the Peshawar High Court (PHC) imposed such a ban on Musharraf in 2013. However, on an appeal filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) leader Khawaja Asif against his disqualification. Imposed by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on a petition by PTI veteran Usman Dar, the Supreme Court in 2018 held that an element of bad intention in relation to an undeclared asset must be present before it can be described as dishonest; Interference by means of a warranto in financial matters against an elected member [a writ or legal action requiring a person to show by what warrant an office or suffrage is held, is claimed, or is used] may be appropriate only if the property was not disclosed. means to conceal a wrongdoing; And the law did not envisage that every rejection of nomination paper on account of non-disclosure of any property would lead to disqualification under Article 62(1)(f). Therefore, unless some wrongdoing or dishonesty involving undeclared assets is established, the case will not result in disqualification for life.
The PHC had ruled that all unconstitutional and illegal actions taken by Musharraf at the time of imposing the second emergency remained invalid because they had not been recognized by Parliament; He was guilty of destroying the Constitution and completely demolished the higher judiciary, which was an important organ of the state; Subversion of the Constitution, as committed by him, was an act that was punishable under Article 62, and under the High Treason (Punishment) Act, 1973 and was likely to be punishable with death; All the actions taken by him at the time of imposition of second emergency in 2007 and for all time thereafter attracted unforgivable disqualification for him as the amount and magnitude of disqualification acquired through his unconstitutional and illegal acts was continuous, continuous and recurring And not for once; and he had earned a lifetime disqualification for contesting elections to Parliament, the Provincial Assemblies, the Senate or any public office, nor was he fit and fit to hold any other public office of any representative character.
In April 2018, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court had held that any person affected by Article 62(1)(f) would be disqualified for life to stand for election. The panel was headed by the then Chief Justice Saqib Nisar and consisted of Justice Bandiyal, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Azmat Saeed Sheikh (post-retirement). Justice Bandiyal wrote the 52-page judgment, which was supported by three judges, while Justice Azmat Saeed Shaikh did not agree with the logic of the majority verdict.
The judgment had also negated the views of two of its amicus curiae, Syed Ali Zafar [now a PTI senator] and Munir-e-Malik. It had also rejected the arguments of (late) Asma Jahangir, who had opposed lifelong disqualification.
The decision came as another setback for Nawaz Sharif, who was earlier disqualified as Prime Minister/member of the National Assembly and later disqualified to lead his party. As a result, Tareen also became permanently ineligible.
The verdict had upheld the permanent disqualification of MPs and had widely discussed the importance of Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution by placing its reliance on verses from the Holy Quran. Article 2A states that the principles and provisions laid down in the Objectives Resolution have been made a fundamental part of the Constitution and shall have effect accordingly.