Nawaz's lawyer given one week to prepare arguments in disqualification under Article 62 case

The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed the lawyer representing former prime minister Nawaz Sharif a week's time to prepare his arguments for the case regarding the interpretation of Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution — the same article under which Sharif was disqualified last year.

The case ─ focused on ascertaining the period of disqualification of a member of parliament under the constitutional article ─ is being heard by a five-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah.

Advocate Azam Tarar, the lawyer representing Sharif, told the bench during Wednesday's hearing that he was asked to appear in court only yesterday evening and asked for three days to prepare his arguments.

Accepting his request, the court gave the lawyer until next week.

Taking up 17 appeals against the disqualification of lawmakers, the SC had issued notices to Nawaz and former Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) secretary general Jahangir Tareen to appear in person or through their counsel during the hearing of the appeals involving the interpretation of Article 62(1)(f) — the provision under which both had been disqualified.

While Tareen was present in court for the hearing on Tuesday, the PML-N head was not as he had appeared in an accountability court hearing references against him.

During yesterday's hearing, the court had contemplated the article's interpretation and implementation, and wondered whether sadiq (truthful) and ameen (righteous) should be considered as one trait or two separate ones.

The SC on Tuesday had also made a public announcement inviting lawmakers disqualified under Article 62(1)(f) to become a party to the case by appearing in court for the hearings.

Political and legal experts believe that the outcome of the case will have a great impact on the country’s future politics as it will decide the political future and fate of a number of politicians, including Sharif and Tareen.

Article 62(1)(f) says: "A person shall not be qualified to be elected or chosen as a member of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) unless [...] he is sagacious, righteous and non-profligate, honest and ameen, there being no declaration to the contrary by a court of law."

The article, however, does not specify any period after which a person, who is declared disqualified under Article 62, can be eligible to contest elections of the parliament.

from The Dawn News - Home http://ift.tt/2DOunCp