Legal experts and journalists have hailed the Supreme Court’s 6-1 majority verdict to annul the lifetime disqualification of politicians, paving the way for some political leaders eyeing another term in public office.
Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa announced the reserved decision in a live proceeding on YouTube and TV.
“The interpretation of Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution in imposing a lifetime disqualification upon a person through an implied declaration of a court of civil jurisdiction while adjudicating upon some civil rights and obligations of the parties is beyond the scope of the said Article and amounts to reading into the Constitution,” said one of the points in the order.
Justice Yahya Afridi, one of the judges from the seven-judge bench, disagreed with the decision. He said that the extent of the lack of qualification of lawmakers under the law was neither lifelong nor permanent.
Qaisar Imam, the Islamabad Bar Association president, described it as a “sigh of relief.” According to him, it was a “true interpretation of the law” under which lifetime disqualification was set aside.
He went on to add that a timeframe to curtail any activity was mentioned even for a heinous crime. Imam stated that articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution were seen concerning the qualification and disqualification of a lawmaker.
The ISBA president said that the apex court clarified the old decision, which was based on presumption, and set aside it.
Anchorperson Asma Shirazi was of the view that the Supreme Court corrected itself and rectified its historic mistake. “It was undue,” she said and quoted former CJP as saying that it was a wrong decision.
She expressed hope that the top court would also correct its mistake in the presidential reference seeking to revisit the controversial 1979 death sentence awarded to former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
According to Shirazi, PTI founder Imran Khan would also be a beneficiary of the decision.
With the decision, she added that PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif has no excuse to avoid active politics in the country.
Legal expert Hafiz Ahsaan Ahmed explained that it was the duty of Parliament to prescribe the disqualification time for any politician. He added that the SC has acknowledged the legislative competency of Parliament.
“A larger bench of the SC has resolved political and constitutional controversies and it will have a long-lasting effect on Pakistan’s constitutional and political history,” he said.
“When you submit any nomination papers, then basically a lot of information – including liabilities, assets, travel history, dependants information, and house items – sought from you and submit an affidavit. When you submit an affidavit, then there is a consequence which was also faced by the PTI chairman [Imran Khan].
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Now subsections (e),(f), and (g) of Article 63 were not part of not part of the Constitution. They came in 1985. But the climax interpretation came when former president Gen (retd) Musharraf made it compulsory for lawmakers to have a BA degree. Anyone who submits his nomination papers, if his declaration is wrong then he will be considered disqualified for five years.“
Former Sindh High Court judge Shaiq Usmani was of the view that the decision was right, adding that the old decision was wrong as the judges wrongly interpreted the Article 62(1)(f).
“What is significant is that the Supreme Court has established a principle. If SC does any interpretation of any section of the Article and there is no justification for it. Then it is denied by any law of Parliament then the law of Parliament will prevail. The SC has established this,” he said.
