General elections: SC seeks candidates' input in lifetime disqualification

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday released an advertisement to seek candidates’ input before taking up the lifetime disqualification matter of lawmakers, ARY News reported.

The top court issued ad to resolve the discrepancy between the judicial decision on lifetime disqualification under Article 62 (1) (f) and the amendments made to the Elections Act, 2017.

The advertisement released in the different newspapers has invited inputs from the candidates willing to contest general elections in the matter of lifetime disqualification.

“Interested candidates can submit detailed written replies to SC if they want,” the ad read.

A seven-member bench of SC will take up pleas to resolve the discrepancy between the judicial decision on lifetime disqualification under Article 62 (1) (f) and section 232 of the amended Elections Act, 2017.

The advertisement released by SC further stated that the decision on the pleas can affect the candidates willing to contest the general elections 2024.

In the last hearing on the pleas on December 11, SC issued notices to Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan, advocate generals of all the provinces and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to assist the court.

Read more: Supreme Court to take up lifetime disqualification matter

The apex court’s notice came on a petition filed by a former MPA of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN), Shamona Badshah Qaisrani, who was disqualified over a fake degree in 2007.

The lifetime disqualification matter

In 2018, a five-judge bench of Supreme Court unanimously held that disqualification handed down under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution is for life.

Under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution of Pakistan, which sets the precondition for a member of parliament to be ‘sadiq and ameen’ (honest and righteous), former prime minister and PMLN chief Nawaz Sharif was disqualified by the SC bench on July 28, 2017, in references pertaining to the Panama Papers.

Similarly, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder was also disqualified under the same article in the Toshakhana case earlier this year.

However, in June, the then-coalition government passed an amendment to the Elections Act 2017, which limited the disqualification of lawmakers to five years.