How can a person disqualified to be MNA become party head,’ Supreme Court asks

The Supreme Court wondered on Wednesday whether a person ineligible to become a member of the National Assembly could be chosen to head a political party. A threemember bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar was hearing a set of petitions challenging the Elections Act 2017, filed by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan, Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, the Pakistan Peoples Party and 10 others.” Can a thief or member of a drug mafia [also] become the head of a party?” the bench asked, as it deliberated a number of points regarding the eligibility of a person to hold a party’s top office. Justice Ijazul Ahsan wondered how a person disqualified by the court over not being sadiq (truthful) and ameen (righteous) and who could not be elected as a member of parliament become a party’s head. But Advocate Salman Akram Raja, who was representing the PML-N, argued that while a person disqualified under Article 62(1)(f) could not be elected to the parliament, the Constitution of the country imposes no bar on such a person to lead a party.” Do all the basic rights of a disqualified person as a human end with a disqualification?” Raja asked. He asked whether such a person also loses the right to organise and the right to freedom of expression.