The Sindh High Court has rejected a petition seeking the disqualification of Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) leader Shazia Marri in an alleged fake degree case, delivering its decision 13 years after the petition was filed.
The court declared the petition inadmissible and dismissed it, ruling that the High Court does not have the authority to disqualify a member of Parliament under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution. It said a constitutional petition alone is not sufficient to disqualify an individual.
The petitioner’s lawyer argued that Shazia Marri had allegedly used the 2002 BA degree of another student with the same name and declared herself a graduate while submitting nomination papers for elections. According to the petitioner, Marri also declared herself a graduate during the 2002, 2008 and 2013 elections.
The petitioner had requested that Marri be disqualified for allegedly using a fake degree.
In its ruling, the court noted that a similar objection had already been raised before an election tribunal during the 2018 elections. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) rejected the objection concerning the degree in 2022, while an appeal against the election tribunal’s decision filed before the Supreme Court was dismissed in 2023 after it was withdrawn.
Marri’s lawyer told the court that the issue concerning the degree had already been examined by the Election Commission on the basis of complete evidence and that the ECP had rejected the petition challenging her degree.
The court observed that the jurisdiction of a constitutional court is not to create disqualification but to determine whether an office holder is qualified to hold office. It further stated that under the Constitution, tribunals have the authority to determine whether a person meets the required standards of honesty and integrity.
The Sindh High Court further held that every person is presumed to possess the qualifications and characteristics prescribed by the Constitution unless a competent court has ruled otherwise.
In light of Supreme Court orders, the Sindh High Court declared the petition inadmissible and disposed of the case.
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