ISLAMABAD, April 20: Minister for Law, Justice and Human Rights Dr Khalid Ranjha on Saturday said that the former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif would not be allowed to contest the October elections as they both have been separately convicted by courts of law.

“Sections 62 and 63 of the constitution clearly say that a person convicted by a court of law stands disqualified to contest election,” he said while answering a question at a seminar on the role of the NAB in arresting the abuse of power in all sectors of government functions.

He said that in the presence of these clauses both heads of major political parties and former premiers stand disqualified as they had been convicted on various charges by the respective courts of law.

Answering another question regarding the enactment of the law regarding access to information, he said the law is in the process of making, and as soon as it is formulated it would be presented to the federal cabinet for final decision.

“The law on information was presented to the federal cabinet a few days ago but was returned with the plea to merge it with the law of defamation,” he said.

He said justice has its own pitfalls as in the present Anglo-Saxon system the burden of proof is always put on the prosecution. Whereas, he said this should have been the other way round, like, the burden of proof should have been on the accused. This, he said is in line with the values of Islam.

He highlighted the need for educating the bench and bar so that they may be equipped as per the needs of the modern time.

The law minister advised the NAB to take steps to properly project the cause of plea-bargain as this term is being misunderstood as Muk-muka.

He said though the NAB has recovered huge amounts of plundered wealth on this account, this term was not being properly projected.

He pointed out the need to bring revolutionary changes in the behaviour of individuals who consider the justice system as a delayed process.

He said present the system is “adversarial” and there are delays in it. But it should not be taken as “justice delayed - justice denied”, he said. “We have to bring change in our attitude as some say ‘justice hurried is justice buried,’” he added.—APP