ISLAMABAD: A five-judge larger bench has been constituted by Chief Justice (CJ) Mian Saqib Nisar to decide if the disqualification of parliamentarians under Article 62(1)(f) is for life or is time specific. According to Murtaza, a couple of hearings regarding the matter had already been conducted by former chief justice Jamali, but the matter was not taken up due to Justice Jamali’s retirement. “I personally feel that the Supreme Court should allow parliamentarians disqualified under Article 62(1)(f) of the constitution to contest the elections and let the people decide about their future,” opined the counsel. While currently, former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry’s judgments are in force according to which the disqualification under the article is for life, some earlier verdicts did not envisage permanent disqualification. Tarar claimed that the court had issued varying judgments on the disqualification of parliamentarians on the same grounds.

Source: Pakistan Today January 25, 2018 19:17 UTC