The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday restored the 10-year disqualification from holding public office for convictions under the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), suspending a 2019 ruling that had limited the same to five years.
An IHC division bench comprising Justices Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Saman Rafat Imtiaz issued the suspension order on an appeal filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against the disqualification of former Balochistan minister Mir Faiq Ali Jamali.
An accountability court had sentenced Jamali to a 14-year imprisonment, as well as a fine of Rs. 6 million, on corruption charges, with him being released in October 2013 after completing his jail term. In July 2019, a Supreme Court bench hearing Jamali’s plea to contest elections had barred him from polls until Nov. 28, 2026, with then-chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khosa saying his period of disqualification began after he paid his fine in full.
After the previous government amended the Election Act, 2017 by limiting the period of disqualification to five years, an IHC single bench reduced the disqualification period of NAB convicts to five years instead of 10. Subsequently, Jamali had filed nomination papers for the polls, which were rejected, and his appeal against the rejection was fixed before the Balochistan High Court (SHC) election appellate tribunal for hearing on Wednesday.
In its appeal, NAB argued that Jamali’s disqualification under the NAO could not be reduced, as the amended Elections Act did not apply. During the hearing, NAB prosecutor Rafay Maqsood argued that the disqualification period starts from the time the convict is released from jail. Noting Jamali—who is a PMLN ticket-holder from Balochistan—was awarded a 10-year disqualification, he said the Supreme Court had upheld his sentence.
“The NAB ordinance is a special law. The sentence of 10-year disqualification is present in it,” the prosecutor argued, adding the apex court had recently also upheld the sentence in the Khalid Langove case. Subsequently, the IHC issued a stay order on its earlier ruling, restoring the 10-year period for disqualification.