Nawaz Sharif, Former PM of Pakistan, barred form holding office for life

Islamabad: Pakistan’s ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif has been barred from holding office for life after the Supreme Court today ruled that disqualification of a lawmaker under the Constitution is for life. The verdict was issued unanimously by all five judges of the bench while hearing a case related to the determination of time duration for disqualification of a lawmaker under the Constitution, the Dawn reported.

The court had grappled with Article 62(1)(f) which only stated that a lawmaker is disqualified under specified conditions but did not set out the duration of the disqualification. Article 62, which sets the precondition for a member of parliament to be “sadiq and ameen” (honest and righteous), is the same provision under which Sharif, 68, was disqualified on July 28, 2017, in the Panama Papers case.

Likewise, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Tareen was disqualified on December 15 last year by a separate bench of the apex court under the same provision. Following the verdict, both Sharif and Tareen have become ineligible to ever hold public office.

It has been stated in the decision read out by Justice Umar Ata Bandial that the disqualification of any member of parliament or a public servant under Article 62 in the future will be permanent. Such a person cannot contest elections or become a member of parliament.