ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) Registrar Office has returned the constitution petition filed by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) challenging the lifetime disqualification of lawmakers.
In a development, the top court refused to entertain the SCBA petition challenging the lifetime disqualification of lawmakers under Article 62 (1) (f) of the Constitution. The petition has been returned by the SC Registrar Office after raising several objections.
The Registrar Office stated that a large bench comprising of five judges had already given a judgement on the matter, whereas, an objection was also raised on the locus standi of the petitioner.
It may be noted that SBCA President Ahsan Bhoon had filed the plea, contending that the lifetime disqualification under Article 62 (1)(f), which sets the precondition for a lawmaker to be honest and righteous (sadiq and ameen), should be applied in cases related to election disputes besides challenging the top court’s act as a trial court under the powers of Article 184(3).
The petition sought the top court to declare proceedings under Articles 184(3) or 199 of the Constitution, not in line with the law. It read, “The apex court exercises extraordinary and original constitutional jurisdiction while acting pursuant to Article 184(3) of the Constitution.”
Following the petition’s return by the registrar office, the SCBA mulled over submitting an appeal against the objections.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had also been disqualified by a five-judge SC bench on July 28, 2017, in the Panama Papers case under the same provision followed by the disqualification of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Tareen.