Supreme Court Overturns Lifetime Disqualification, Clearing Path for Nawaz Sharif and Jahangir Tareen to Contest Elections

 In a historic ruling, a 6-1 majority Supreme Court verdict on Monday quashed the lifetime disqualification of lawmakers under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution, allowing PML-N’s Nawaz Sharif and Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party’s Jahangir Tareen to contest the upcoming general elections. This verdict overturned the apex court’s 2018 judgment in the Samiullah Baloch case, where it had ruled that disqualification under Article 62(1)(f) was supposed to be “permanent. The court explained that the provision in Article 62(1)(f) is not self-executing and lacks specificity for disqualification procedures.

Until a law was enacted to make its provision executory, the court ruled that Article 62(1)(f) stood on a similar footing as Article 62(1)(d)(e)(g). As a result, lifetime disqualification interpretation would exceed the scope of the article and violates fundamental rights. The court also acknowledged the Elections (Amendment) Act 2023, which established a 5-year disqualification period. PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif celebrated the verdict as a “historic, landmark decision, removing a “conspiracy to disqualify Nawaz for life through the “arbitrary interpretation of the Constitution. The court ruled that the recent amendments to the Elections Act prescribed five years for the disqualification incurred by any judgment of any court in terms of Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution.

Justice Afridi dissented from the verdict, expressing an affirmation of the 2018 judgment, stating that a lifetime disqualification was neither permanent and that such a declaration remains effective only during the period it is made. The losing politicians also lauded the ruling, praising it as a landmark decision that removed “thorns laid down in democratic corridors. In a balanced approach, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari suggested that the decision was a “good development for the country’s democracy and politics in the long run. The ruling has determined the political future of many politicians, allowing Nawaz Sharif a renewed opportunity in the upcoming elections.