SC fines attorney general Rs 20,000 for not turning up in Article 62 case

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Saqib Nisar on Monday imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf after the latter failed to appear in a case pertaining to Article 62 (1)(f), in spite of repeated court orders.

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

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was disqualified in the Panama Papers case last year owing to the same article of the Constitution that pertains to the honesty of the state officials.

AG Ausaf was supposed to appear before the court to present the state’s arguments today, but he failed to appear. Additional Attorney General (AAG) Rana Waqar appeared in his stead and sought to submit a written reply.

However, the court got annoyed with the repeated absences of the AG and imposed an initial fine of Rs 10, 000. The fine was later removed at the AAG’s request.

When the AAG apprised the bench that the AG was in Lahore due to Asma Jahangir’s death—a fame human right activist, CJP Nisar replied that all the lawyers and judges are in grief over her demise but the attorney general cannot be facilitated in this matter.

However, the court agreed to postpone the hearing till Tuesday, to which the AAG repilied the attorney general was planning on leaving the country tomorrow, after the activist’s funeral. The court being displeased with the response, chided: “How can the AG leave for abroad while leaving such an important case pending?”

CJP Nisar irritated with the AG’s reluctance to come to the court directed him to appear before the bench by 4:00 pm of the same day to present his arguments. But the AG failed to comply, prompting the court to slap a fine of Rs20,000.

Earlier on February 8, during the hearing of the case, the SC Chief Justice Saqib Nisar admitted to complexity in the Article 62(1)(f) and said it was difficult to interpret the article, let alone its annulment.

Late Asma Jahangir appeared before the bench as Pakistan Tehreek-Insaf’s (PTI) disqualified lawmaker Rai Hasan Nawaz’s counsel.

She had argued that for voters, the questions of eligibility and qualification do not matter and said that parliament should decide political matters, not any other institution. She had also pleaded that Articles 62 and 63 are joined and should be considered one whereas the disqualification period should be kept at 5 years.

‘SADIQ AND AMEEN’:

Article 62(1)(f) reads: “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.”

On December 15, last year, the Supreme Court had disqualified Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Jahangir Tareen for failing to declare an offshore company and a foreign property in his election nomination papers.

Similarly, then-prime minister Nawaz Sharif was disqualified on July 28, 2017, for concealing in his nomination papers the receivable income from his son’s company in UAE.