ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has declared the lifetime disqualification under Article 62(1)(f) of the 1973 Constitution null and void, removing the final bottleneck for Nawaz Sharif and Jahangir Khan Tareen to contest the upcoming polls.
It was a 6-1 judgment announced by the Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa on Monday as Justice Yahya Afridi dissented with the majority’s decision.
The seven-member bench hearing the Case included Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musarrat Hilali.
The ruling said that contesting elections is a fundamental right of all citizens. It said that politicians won’t be disqualified for life.
In its judgment, the Court also withdrew the verdict which had disqualified Sami Ullah Baloch for life in 2018. It ruled that under the Election Act, the disqualification would stand for five years.
تاحیات نااہلی سے متعلق کیس میں جسٹس یحییٰ آفریدی کا اختلافی نوٹ۔
پارلیمنٹ کے رکن کی اہلیت کی کمی کی حد پاکستان کے آئین کے آرٹیکل 62(1)(f) کے تحت ہے، 1973 کے آئین کے مطابق نااہلی نہ تاحیات ہے اور نہ ہی مستقل اسی طرح نااہلی کی مدت جو عدالت کے ذریعہ دیاجائے گی وہ نافذ العمل ہوگی۔ pic.twitter.com/bCcZZnB4Ox— M.Ibrahim Abbasi (@ibrahim_views) January 8, 2024
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