SHC Rejects Petition Seeking Shazia Marri Disqualification

The Sindh High Court on Tuesday dismissed a long-pending petition seeking the disqualification of Pakistan Peoples Party MNA Shazia Marri over an alleged fake degree issue, ruling that the request was not maintainable before the high court. The decision was issued in Karachi nearly 13 years after the matter first came under judicial consideration.

The court held that, under the constitutional framework, a high court does not possess the direct authority to disqualify a member of parliament through such a constitutional petition. The ruling effectively closed the petition at the high court level and clarified the limits of judicial intervention in electoral qualification disputes.

According to the case details, the petitioner’s lawyer alleged that Shazia Marri had used the 2002 academic degree of another student with a similar name. The court, however, noted that a comparable objection had already been raised before an election tribunal during the 2018 election process.

The bench further observed that the Election Commission of Pakistan had rejected the objection related to the degree in 2022. It also noted that an appeal filed in the Supreme Court against the election tribunal’s decision was withdrawn in 2023, after which the matter could not be revived through a fresh constitutional petition in the same manner.

Shazia Marri’s lawyer argued that the degree issue had already been examined before the Election Commission with relevant material and that the commission had dismissed the application. The defence position was that the dispute had passed through the proper election-related forums and could not be repeatedly reopened without legal basis.

In its reasoning, the Sindh High Court stated that merely filing a constitutional petition is not enough to seek disqualification of an elected representative. The court also referred to the principle that questions involving honesty, qualification and disqualification must be handled through legally recognised mechanisms, in line with constitutional provisions and Supreme Court guidance.

The case is significant because Pakistan has seen repeated legal and political battles over lawmakers’ qualifications, academic credentials and eligibility under constitutional standards. Such disputes often become politically charged, especially when they involve senior figures from major parties and are linked to election outcomes.

For Pakistan’s political and legal environment, the ruling reinforces the importance of jurisdiction and proper forum selection in election-related cases. It may discourage repeated litigation over matters already examined by the Election Commission, election tribunals or superior courts, unless fresh legal grounds are clearly established.

The next step will depend on whether the petitioner chooses to pursue any further legal remedy available under the law. For now, the high court’s decision gives Shazia Marri relief in the long-running case and adds another judicial reference point for future disputes involving parliamentary disqualification petitions.