Supreme Court ends lifetime disqualification of politicians

The Supreme Court on Monday decided against the lifetime disqualification of politicians under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution, doing away with its earlier order of debarring lawmakers from running for office ever.

A seven-member SC larger bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musarrat Hilali, heard the case.

 The verdict was announced with a 6-1 majority vote.

The Supreme Court declared that no person can be barred for a lifetime from running in elections if they are disqualified under Article 62 (1)(f), setting aside its landmark judgment in the Samiullah Baloch case.

The legal conundrum arose after the parliament passed the amendments in the Elections Act 2017, restricting the disqualification period of a politician to five years, instead of a lifetime, contrary to the SC’s order, which deemed disqualification under Article 62(1)(f) as “permanent”.

The latest judgment allows Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif and Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) chief Jahangir Tareen to run for office as they were disqualified for life in the past.