SC larger bench to hear lifetime disqualification case tomorrow

ISLAMABAD (92 News) - A seven-judge bench will hear the lifetime disqualification case on Tuesday.

Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa will head the bench, while Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Aminudding Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel, Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Musarrat Hilali will be its members.

The court will resolve the issue on lifetime disqualification under Article 62 (1) (f) and section 232 of the amended Elections Act, 2017.

In the last hearing on December 11, the SC had issued notices to Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan, advocate generals of all the provinces and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to assist the court. In 2018, a five-judge bench of Supreme Court unanimously held that disqualification handed down under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution is for life.

Under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution, which sets the precondition for a member of parliament to be ‘sadiq and ameen’ (honest and righteous), PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif was disqualified by the SC bench on July 28, 2017, in references pertaining to the Panama Papers.