The Balochistan High Court permanently disqualified Senator Mohammad Ali Rind from holding any public office on Thursday, citing his failure to state facts about his conviction in corruption cases in his nomination papers for Senate elections in 2009.
Rind was elected a senator in 2009 on the ticket of the Balochistan National Party (BNP-Awami).
The court declared that Rind could not continue to be a senator under the Constitution of Pakistan.
The court ruled in a petition filed by Mohammad Akram Baloch in 2009, who alleged that Rind could not be elected as senator since he had been convicted and subsequently disqualified for 10 years in two different cases.
Notices were also issued to Rind through the Senate secretariat, but could not be served on the accused.
Subsequently, notices were published in three newspapers compelling Rind to appear in court on July 28.
In both cases, Rind was initially barred from taking part in any national, provincial and local body elections for 21 years.
He entered into a plea-bargain with the prosecution, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
NAB accepted the request upon the deposit of Rs900,000 and Rs30,000,000. Subsequently two applications were submitted respectively in Ehtesab Appeal and the restrictions were lowered from 21 years to 10 years.
Rind had tried to contest the 2008 general elections, but was stopped by the authorities.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 26th, 2011.
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