Petition of Bar Association against Lifetime Disqualification in the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court Bar Association has challenged the Lifetime Disqualification Act in the Supreme Court and asked the Supreme Court to review the law.
The petition was filed by Ahsan Bhoon, president of the Supreme Court Bar Association.
It should be noted that in 2017, the Supreme Court had disqualified former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and PTI leader Jahangir Tareen from holding any public office.
The petition of the President of the Supreme Court Bar Association states that the principle of lifelong disqualification should be applied only in electoral disputes.
The petition said that under sub-section 3 of Article 184 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court could not conduct proceedings as a trial court as there was no right of appeal under Article 184 (3) against the judgment of the court. The petition further states that denial of the right to appeal against the judgment is against the principles of justice.
It is also noteworthy that the Supreme Court takes suo motu notice of a case under the same law.
The petition also contends that lifelong disqualification of any person without the right of appeal is a violation of fundamental rights. In addition, the petition also states that lifelong disability without the right to appeal is a violation of the fundamental rights of the voters of the constituency concerned.
If the petition is accepted for hearing and the Supreme Court rules in its favor, then former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and PTI leader Jahangir Tareen will also directly benefit.
The apex court had declared both of them ineligible for life for not disclosing proper assets in their financial statements.
Both the leaders were disqualified under Article 62F of the Constitution and the court said that both were found guilty of misrepresentation, therefore they did not remain honest and trustworthy and thus their disqualification would remain for life.
Nawaz Sharif was disqualified in July 2017 while Jahangir Tareen was disqualified in December 2017.
It is pertinent to mention that in April 2018, a five-member larger bench of the Supreme Court headed by the then Chief Justice Saqib Nisar had upheld this article of the Constitution while ruling on a petition relating to life imprisonment. The court said that this law will remain permanent and it is in line with the needs of the people as the people want to have leaders who are honest and trustworthy as a result of elections.
Justice Azmat Saeed, a member of the bench, wrote in his additional note that during the hearing, the issue was raised by some lawyers that the law on lifelong disqualification was inappropriate and more stringent, which needed to be reviewed. He wrote in his additional note that instead of taking the matter to court, he should take it to Parliament and decide on it.
A recent petition filed by the Supreme Court Bar Association cited a number of cases in which the court had disqualified politicians under different laws in different periods. Most of these decisions are between 2013 and 2018.
Kamran Murtaza, former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, has said that a larger bench headed by the then Chief Justice Saqib Nisar in 2018, during the hearing of the petition regarding the law on lifelong disqualification, asked Nawaz Sharif and Jahangir Tareen. He did not ask to be a party by direct application, but Justice Saqib Nisar did say that if a person is affected by the law and wants to be a party to it, he is allowed to do so.
Despite this, the said persons did not apply to become a party.