SHC seeks details of plea bargain between Sharmila Faruqui and NAB

NAB had written a letter to ECP to disqualify her as she had been convicted by a court

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) sought on Thursday the details of plea bargain between the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MPA Sharmila Faruqui and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in corruption reference.

A division bench was hearing the petition filed by Faruqui who had approached the court against NAB for writing to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the Sindh Assembly Speaker to disqualify her as she had been convicted by a court. The PPP lawmaker had requested the court to restrain the relevant authorities from disqualifying her from MPA office.

Faruqui had maintained in her petition that the top anti-corruption body of the country had filed a reference against her, her father, who was the then Pakistan Steel Mills chairperson, and her mother for investing a huge amount in national saving schemes that did not commensurate with their known sources of income. She had contended that her family had entered into a plea bargain with the NAB, which was allowed by the relevant court in 2001.



Her counsel argued that the Section 15 of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999, cannot be applied to Faruqui’s case, according to which a person stands disqualified for holding a public office for 21 years after having been convicted by a court.

On the other hand, NAB prosecutor argued that Faruqui cannot hold any public office as she had been convicted by an accountability court.

Putting off the matter, the court sought details of the plea bargain which was held between the two parties in 2001.