MR. JUSTICE ABDUL HAMEED DOGAR, HCJ MR. JUSTICE FAQIR ...

CONSTITUTION PETITION NO. 1 OF 2008
AND CMA NO. 994 TO 996 OF 2008 75
qualification to contest election existed and Pakistan was the only
country where such restriction was imposed. As against this,
Mr.Khaki took the plea that the Constitutions of other countries were
not relevant because our Constitution and culture were unique. The
Sub-Continent was partitioned on the basis of two-nation theory
giving birth to two independent states, one based on the Islamic
Ideology and the other professing Hindu religion and culture, i.e. one
Islamic State and the other a Hindu State. The learned Attorney
General submitted that it was not the question of logic of the law,
which this Court could not go into. However, a law would be struck
down if it placed unreasonable restriction on the fundamental rights
as guaranteed by the Constitution. In Javed Jabbar’s case, Article 8-
AA of the Chief Executive’s Order No. 7 of 2002 was struck down on
the ground of being unreasonable.
46. In conclusion, it may be stated that subject to reasonable
restrictions imposed by law, the fundamental right enshrined in
Article 17(2) of the Constitution to form or be a member of a political
party extends to formation of the government and contesting of
election as held by this Court in the cases of Benazir Bhutto and
Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (supra) provided that a person fulfils the
qualifications laid down by or under Article 62 of the Constitution
and does not suffer from the disqualifications provided by or under
Article 63 of the Constitution (PML (Q)’s case). There are two types of
qualifications and disqualifications, some of which are mentioned in
the Constitution itself (Articles 62 and 63) and the others provided by
law in pursuance of Clauses (i) and (s) of Articles 62 and 63