ISLAMABAD: Following the conclusion of proceedings, the Supreme Court on Friday reserved its decision in the issue concerning the lifetime disqualification of legislators under Article 62(1)(F) of the Constitution.
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa stated that a brief order would be made public shortly, but he reserved the decision.
The hearing was conducted by a seven-member bigger bench, which was led by Chief Justice Isa and included Justices Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Yahya Afridi, Aminuddin Khan, Jamal Khan Mandokhel, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, and Musarrat Hilali.
The supreme court had noted inconsistencies in the Election Act, 2017 about the period of disqualification, as well as a previous ruling made by the court in response to a petition submitted by former provincial member Sardar Meer Badshah of the PML-N.Live coverage of the proceedings was available on SC’s YouTube channel and website.
At the previous hearing on Thursday, CJP Isa said that it was “against Islam” to disqualify a lawmaker for life from the parliament. The court was also looking for “clarity” regarding whether a lawmaker’s disqualification period was five years, as per the Election Act 2017 amendment, or a lifetime ban under the same article that deals with the requirements to contest elections.
According to CJP Isa, Islam has the answer to this problem.
The top judge cited a phrase from Surah Sajdah, which states that while people are not evil in and of themselves, their activities are, saying, “The Holy Quran mentions that the status of humans is very high.”
