Lahore High Court has reserved decision on the petition against fixing the disqualification period of the members of the Assembly for 5 years after hearing the arguments of the lawyers of the parties. Lahore High Court Judge Justice Shahd Bilal Hasan heard the petitions of Shabir Ismail and Mushkur Hussain. Advocate Azhar Siddique appeared on behalf of the petitioners while Additional Attorney General appeared on behalf of the federal government. The Additional Attorney General Mirza Nasr Ahmad while giving arguments in the court said that the 7-member larger bench of the Supreme Court has fixed the period of disqualification for 5 years so these petitions are not admissible.

The applicant’s lawyer Azhar Siddique referred to various clauses of Article 62 and 63 of the Constitution and highlited qualification and disqualification. The Additional Attorney General said that Article 62F1 is related to disqualification and the Supreme Court can only interpret Article 62 so the petitioner should move to the Supreme Court.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)