Pakistan's top court to hear issue of lifetime disqualification of lawmakers

The issue cropped up when the court noted that former Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz provincial lawmaker Sardar Mir Badshah Khan Qaisarani was disqualified for producing a fake graduation degree during 2008 and 2018 elections.

Islamabad: With the general elections around the corner in Pakistan, the country's Supreme Court has decided to take up a lifetime electoral disqualification dispute of lawmakers in January 2024 and referred it to a three-judge committee, media reports said on Tuesday.

Constituted under the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023, the committee will form a larger bench to determine the raging debate on whether aspirants disqualified under Article 62 could contest polls in light of the amendments in the Election Act 2017, the Dawn newspaper reported.

The legal dilemma arose given the April 13, 2018, Supreme Court judgement in the Samiullah Baloch case, when the apex court shut the doors of Parliament permanently for politicians disqualified under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution through a unanimous verdict, by ruling that such ineligibility was for life.

But on June 26, 2023, an amendment was brought in the Elections Act 2017, specifying that the period of the electoral disqualification will be for five years, not for life.

Headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, a three-judge Supreme Court bench on Monday ordered the matter to be placed before the committee, consisting of the CJP, Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and Justice Ijazul Ahsan, to constitute the larger bench and fix it next year in January.

The top court will decide whether its verdict or the Elections Act holds the field.

The top court of Pakistan also clarified that the pendency of the present case should not be used as a tool or a pretext to delay the elections, neither by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) nor any other entity.

Justice Athar Minallah, a member of the bench, even cautioned that those expressing concerns about the election delay would expose themselves to contempt of court charges, affirming that the polls would be conducted on February 8, 2024.

The issue of electoral disqualification cropped up when the court noted that former Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) provincial lawmaker Sardar Mir Badshah Khan Qaisarani, who had filed nomination papers in the 2008 and 2018 elections, was disqualified for producing a fake graduation degree.

According to the report, his appeal is still pending before the Lahore High Court.

Since the amendment in the election act has not been challenged, the matter will create confusion for the Returning Officers in the upcoming elections, who will face an impossible task— either to rely on the Sup­r­e­­me Court judgement in the Sami­ullah Baloch case or the election act, the chief justice said.

Such a situation is not conducive to democracy, observed the chief justice, according to the report.

CJP Isa remarked that the Supreme Court's lifetime disqualification decision and the Election Act could not go together and added that either the amendments in the Election Act or the apex court's verdict would have to be upheld, according to Geo News.

During the hearing, the CJP also referred to Article 63 of the Constitution, which deals with the disqualification of the lawmakers from participating in the election and referred to the articles which suggest ineligibility for five years, three years, and two years, respectively, even if the individual was accused for damaging the integrity and sovereignty of Pakistan.

"The one who destroys the country should be disqualified for life from contesting the elections," Isa observed, adding that even disqualification is for five years if involved in high treason.

During the hearing, Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan maintained that the issue pertains to constitutional interpretation and, therefore, must be addressed by a larger bench.

The court forwarded the matter to the judges' committee regarding forming the bench on the issue of lifetime disqualifications, according to the report.