IHC restores 10-year disqualification for NAB convicts

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) restored on Thursday 10-year disqualification for the convicts charged under the Natio­nal Accountability Ordinance (NAO), suspending an earlier ruling that had reduced the disqualification period to five years.

An IHC division bench comprising Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz announced the verdict on an appeal filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

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In the previous hearing, the bench observed that the main intra-court appeal (ICA) challenging the IHC’s order of limiting the disqualification to five years was not fixed. The court directed the office to fix the main ICA on January 4 (today) along with an instant application seeking suspension of the order.

During the hearing, NAB prosecutor Rafay Maqsood argued that the disqualification period starts from the time the convict is released from jail.

Background

An accountability court sentenced former Balochistan minister Mir Faiq Jamali to 14-year imprisonment with a Rs6 million fine over corruption charges. He was released from prison after completing his jail term in October 2013.

In July 2019, a three-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by the then chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khosa and comprising Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, barred Jamali from contesting elections till 2026. The case was filed by Jamali, seeking clearance to contest the elections.

During the proceedings, the counsel for Mir Jamali urged the court to allow his client to contest the elections. His client was sentenced in NAB cases and after completing the jail term, he was free to take part in elections, he had stated.

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The CJP, referring to the NAB laws, observed that individuals who completed their jail terms were still barred from holding public office for the next 10 years.

The CJP had ruled that the former minister would be allowed to participate in the elections after November 28, 2026.

However, after changes were made to the Election Act 2017 — which reduced the period of disqualification to five years — Jamali filed a petition before the IHC seeking permission to contest the upcoming elections.

However, the NAB has pleaded that Jamali’s disqualification under the NAO could not be altered as the recently changed election law did not apply to his case. It filed the ICA against the single-bench verdict and urged the court to suspend the verdict limiting the disqualification period.