ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Faez Isa on Monday wondered how a person could remain disqualified for life after completing the sentence as he observed that the Supreme Court had two different opinions on lifetime disqualification.
The remarks came during the hearing of a case about the lifetime disqualification of Sardar Meer Badshah Qaisrani – a former member of the Punjab Assembly. The bench was headed by the chief justice, which also comprised Justice Athar Minallah.
The top judge took notice of the contradiction between the Supreme Court’s judgment on lifetime disqualification and the amendment made in the Election Act by the Parliament during the Shehbaz Sharif-led coalition government. The court issued notices to the attorney general and the provincial advocate generals while making it clear that the matter under review would not be used as a pretext to delay the general elections scheduled for February 8.
It also sent the question of lifetime disqualification to the three-member committee, of which the chief justice and two senior-most judges are members, for the formation of a larger bench to decide the matter.
The court said the next hearing would be held in January 2014 and ordered that the notice of the present case should be published in the country’s top two English dailies.
The latest development in the apex court can have far-reaching impact on Pakistan’s politics as three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif and IPP head Jehangir Tareen are main victims of lifetime disqualification.
Nawaz has already been acquitted in the Avenfield case and the Islamabad High Court is expected to soon complete the hearing of Al-Azizia reference, as the elder Sharif wants a clean chit to contest the upcoming polls likely to be held on February 8, 2024.
