The Islamabad High Court on Thursday restored the 10-year disqualification period for convicts charged under the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), suspending its earlier ruling of five years.
A division bench comprising Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz took the decision on a plea filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on the disqualification of former Balochistan minister Faiq Ali Jamali. Jamali has been given a ticket by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz for the Balochistan Assembly seat – PB 16.
NAB had on July 25 challenged the IHC single-bench order wherein the disqualification period was limited to five years whereas the NAO provided a 10-year period for a convict.
An accountability court had sentenced Jamali to a 14-year imprisonment along with a fine of Rs6 million on corruption charges. Jamali was released from prison after completing his jail term in Oct 2013.
In July 2019, a three-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by the then-chief justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khosa and comprising Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, barred Jamali from contesting elections till 2026.
The then-CJP had ruled that the former minister would be allowed to participate in the elections after Nov 2026.
After changes were made to the Elections Act 2017 last year, reducing the period of disqualification to five years, Jamali filed a petition before the IHC seeking permission to contest the upcoming general elections.
The Balochistan High Court election appellate tribunal had fixed Wednesday to hear Jamali’s appeal against the rejection of his nomination papers.
In its appeal, NAB pleaded that Jamali’s disqualification under NAO could not be altered as the recently changed election law did not apply to his case.
On Thursday, the IHC issued a stay order on its earlier verdict, restoring Section 15 (disqualification to contest election or to hold public office) of NAO, which specifies a 10-year disqualification for convicts from “seeking or from being elected, chosen, appointed or nominated” as public office holders.
Last year, Jamali had quit the Balochistan Awami Party and joined the Pakistan Peoples Party. Two months ago, he joined the PML-N.
During the hearing, NAB prosecutor Rafay Maqsood argued that the disqualification period started from the time the convict was released from prison.
The prosecutor said that the PML-N ticket-holder was awarded a 10-year disqualification, adding that the Supreme Court had upheld his sentence.
Justice Kayani replied that arguments of the NAB official did not address the question raised as the sentence was not controversial.
Justice Kayani inquired whether the subsidiary legislation in the Constitution could be different from the interpretation given in it.
Prosecutor Maqsood replied that the metter had been discussed in the Constitution’s Article 63 (disqualification of parliament members) in a “general” sense. “The NAB ordinance is a special law. The sentence of 10-year disqualification is present in it,” the prosecutor argued.
He said that the candidates of national and provincial assemblies were relying on the decision of the IHC single bench, so the court should decide on NAB’s request soon.
The court, while suspending the decision of the single bench, asked the attorney general for assistance on the next hearing on Jan 15.
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