ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) is scheduled to take up on Tuesday (today) a National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) appeal about the disqualification of former Balochistan minister Mir Faiq Jamali.

The accountability watchdog had on July 25 challenged the IHC order of limiting the disqualification to five years, since the Natio­nal Accountability Ordinance (NAO) provi­des for 10-year disqualification for a convict.

An accountability court had sentenced Mr 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 Mr Jamali from contesting elections till 2026.

The case was filed by Mr Jamali, seeking clearance to contest the elections.

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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.

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 Nov 28, 2026.

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

However, NAB has pleaded that Mr Jamali’s disqualification under the NAO could not be altered as the recently-changed election law did not apply to his case.

The IHC division bench will hear the case on Tuesday.

Published in Dawn, January 2nd, 2024