The Supreme Court has formed a larger bench which will hear the lifelong disqualification case under Article 62(1) (f) tomorrow at 11:30am, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Monday.
The seven-judge larger bench of the Supreme Court will be led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa.
The other members of the bench will be: Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musarrat Hilali.
The Supreme Court took notice of the matter during the hearing of an appeal of JUI-F’s former MPA Mir Badshah Qaisarani against his lifetime disqualification on Dec 12 and decided to hear all identical cases pertaining to lifetime disqualification under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution together.
The larger bench will determine once and for all the raging debate on whether aspirants disqualified under Article 62(1)(f) could contest polls in light of the amendments in the Elections Act 2017.
The legal dilemma arose in view of the April 13, 2018, Supreme Court judgement in the Samiullah Baloch case, when it shut the doors of parliament permanently for politicians disqualified under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution through a unanimous verdict, by ruling that such ineligibility was for life.
But on June 26, 2023, an amendment was brought in the Elections Act 2017, specifying that the period of the electoral disqualification will be for five years, not for life.
Reporter Amanat Gishkori