Disqualification law challenged in LHC

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Staff Reporter

3 years ago

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has heard an appeal to a bill that would have disqualified legislators for five years.

Plaintiff Mian Shabbir, via attorney Azhar Siddique, entered a plea in the LHC. Respondents in the case include the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Senate Chairman, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), and others.

The argument went that without a constitutional change, Parliament could not have amended the Election Act with a simple majority.

The argument argued that section 232 of the Election Act should be repealed since Parliament cannot decide how long a politician is disqualified.

On January 8, the Pakistani Supreme Court (SC) ruled that MPs would only be prohibited from retaining office for five years, citing lifetime disqualification under Article 62 (1)(f) of the Constitution.

A reserved verdict was announced on a set of petitions seeking to determine whether a lawmaker’s disqualification period was for five years or a lifetime. The larger bench, which consisted of Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, and Justice Musarrat Hilali, was led by the Chief Justice of the Punjab. – INP

Staff Reporter