PESHAWAR, Jan 25: The Election Commission has ruled that a convicted person could contest the forthcoming Senate polls if his conviction was suspended by the high court for the time being.

The ruling was given by the provincial election commissioner, Altaf Khan, during scrutiny of nomination papers of former NWFP chief minister and PML-N leader Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan. The provincial election commissioner accepted his nomination papers subject to the outcome of the appeal filed by Sardar Mehtab in the Lahore High Court.

Sardar Mehtab has been contesting Senate elections on the PML-N ticket. He was convicted by an accountability court and sentenced to 14-year rigorous imprisonment along with disqualification from holding any public office.

While an appeal filed by Sardar Mehtab against the conviction is still pending before the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court, the court had suspended the operation of the impugned judgment and released him on bail last year.

During scrutiny of nomination papers, the provincial election commissioner raised the objection, observing that under the Conduct of General Election Order, 2002, a convict stood disqualified from contesting polls for parliament.

Senior advocate Qazi Mohammad Anwer, who was accompanying Mr Khan, pointed out that the conviction of Mr Khan was no longer in the field as that was suspended by the high court. He argued that as the high court had suspended the operation of the impugned judgment, therefore Mr Khan was qualified to contest the elections.

He added that acceptance of his nomination papers would be subject to the outcome of his appeal pending before the high court. However, he said, till that time he was filly competent to contest polls.

Under section 8D, sub-section 2(h) of the Conduct of General Election Order, 2002, a person shall be disqualified from being elected or chosen as a member of parliament, if he has been convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction on a charge of corrupt practice, moral turpitude or misuse of power or authority under any law for the time being in force.

Initially, under the National Accountability Bureau Ordinance, 1999, a person convicted by an accountability court stood disqualified from holding a public office or becoming a member of parliament for 21 years. However, after the judgment of the Supreme Court in the NAB cases, the ordinance was amended and the disqualification period was reduced to 10 years.