Chief Justice of Pakistan said on Thursday that the decision related to the lifetime disqualification was against the Islamic principles while highlighting that the door of mercy would remain open up there (in the heavens).

“Forgiveness comes from within,” he remarked as a seven-member Supreme Court bench heard a set of petitions seeking to determine whether the disqualification period for a lawmaker was for five years or a lifetime.

A seven-member larger bench, headed by the CJP and comprising Justice Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musarrat Hilali, conducted the six-hour-long marathon proceedings. The proceedings were broadcast live on the apex court’s website.

The hearing was adjourned till 9am on Friday (tomorrow).

The top court seeks to determine the debate on whether politicians disqualified under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution could contest polls in light of the amendments in the Elections Act 2017.

According to Article 62(1) (f) of the Constitution, a person shall not be qualified to be elected or chosen as a member of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) “unless — he is sagacious, righteous, non-profligate, honest and ameen, there being no declaration to the contrary by a court of law”.

Under the same law, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was disqualified in the Panama Papers case. Ex-premier Imran Khan was also disqualified under the same article in the Toshakhana case last year.

On Thursday, the CJP stated that acts could be punished “for a particular period” but it did not mean a permanent condemnation.

“No person can be condemned. The door of mercy will remain open up there [in the heavens] and if a person changes their ways then only their past actions should be condemned instead of their personal self,” he said.

At one moment in the case, Justice Isa asked: “Can non-Muslims not be saadiq and ameen? “Were these things inserted for confusion or what?”

Justice Mandokhail also inquired who was responsible for determining if the character of a person was good or not, to which the lawyer said only God could do it.