SINCE PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif returned to Pakistan on Oct 21, the process of dispensing justice to him in the plethora of cases he became entangled in some years ago, has moved almost at the speed of light — by Pakistani standards that is. Around two months after he returned and presented himself before the courts, he was acquitted in both the Avenfield apartments case and the Al Azizia steel mill case, in which he was convicted about five years ago.

Although the process of institution of these cases against him, his conviction, disqualification as an elected public office holder and eventual imprisonment had also moved very fast — again by Pakistani standards — it had taken almost nine months to dethrone Nawaz Sharif. Is this really the end of Nawaz Sharif’s legal problems?

Nawaz Sharif faced multiple legal challenges when he returned to Pakistan. He was convicted and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment in the Avenfield apartments case on July 6, 2018, and was sent to prison along with his daughter Maryam Nawaz when they returned to Pakistan a week later from London where they were tending to a seriously ill Begum Kulsum Nawaz who later expired in London on Sept 11, 2018, while both her husband and daughter were serving their sentences in Rawalpindi’s Adiala prison. On Sept 18, 2018, the Islamabad High Court suspended the verdict as, according to the presiding judge, Justice Athar Minallah, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) “was unable to prove a financial link between the former prime minister and the apartments in question”. He was granted bail by court on Oct 26, 2019, on medical grounds when his health deteriorated. He flew to London for treatment on Nov 19, 2019.

The former prime minister was also convicted and sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment in the Al Azizia steel mill case on Dec 24, 2018. In another case related to Flagship Investments, he was, however, acquitted by the accountability court due to dearth of evidence.

The major challenges seem to have been addressed except for the period of disqualification.

All the three references were filed by NAB in the accountability courts upon the direction of the Supreme Court which had also declared Nawaz Sharif guilty of not declaring in his statements of assets and liabilities, the receivable salary from his son’s company where he was enlisted as its employee, on July 28, 2017, based on the report of a joint investigation team. The judgement, invoking Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution, disqualified Nawaz Sharif from holding a public office and he had to resign from the office of prime minister. Nawaz Sharif, on Aug 15, 2017, filed a review petition in the Supreme Court challenging his disqualification but the petition was dismissed exactly a month later.

Since Article 62(1)(f) does not specify the period of disqualification for persons found guilty under the provision, a separate five-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by chief justice Saqib Nisar interpreted the Constitution and declared on April 13, 2018, that the disqualification under this specific article would be for life.

On Feb 21, 2018, yet another apex court bench comprising three judges and headed by the chief justice Saqib Nisar declared Nawaz Sharif ineligible to hold the position of president of his party PML-N following his disqualification to hold a public office under Article 62(1)(f).

Five years later, on June 26, 2023, parliament passed an amendment to Section 232 of the Elections Act, 2017, according to which the period of disqualification under Article 62 (1) (f) was fixed at five years.

In view of the potential conflict between the amendment passed by parliament and the interpretation given earlier by the Supreme Court, a five-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, referred the matter on Dec 12, 2023,to the three-judge committee constituted under the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023. The committee will form a larger bench to determine once and for all the raging debate on whether aspirants disqualified under Article 62(1)(f) can contest polls in light of the amendments to Elections Act, 2017.

The yet-to-be-formed larger bench is scheduled to meet in January 2024 and it is hoped that it will decide the matter before polling day on Feb 8, 2024. It is also expected that, in the meantime, the candidates affected by the conflicting interpretation of the period of disqualification under Article 62(1)(f) will be able to file their nomination papers and these papers will be accepted subject to final adjudication by the Supreme Court.

This means that while almost all the hurdles in the way of Nawaz Sharif to contest election for public office have been successfully removed through the courts during the past two months, the question of the period of disqualification remains a sticking point. There are also some other cases like the one about illegally acquiring state gifts from the Toshakhana but the major challenges seem to have been addressed except for period of disqualification.

Some jurists argue that, by applying the amended Section 232 of the Elections Act, 2017, Nawaz Sharif’s five-year period of disqualification expired in 2022 and therefore he is free to contest elections and, if elected, hold public office. According to another legal opinion, the Supreme Court’s interpretation of Article 62(1)(f), which declared the period of disqualification for life, has attained the level of a constitutional provision and can, therefore, only be undone or amended through a constitutional amendment and not by ordinary law as has been done by amending Elections Act, 2017.

Thus it appears that Nawaz Sharif will have to wait until January 2024 when the Supreme Court is expected to conclusively pronounce on the period of disqualification under Article 62(1)(f) before he can be considered fully rehabilitated after a six-year-long arduous legal and political struggle.

The writer is president of the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development And Transparency.
president@pildat.org
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Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2023