The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has restored the 10-year disqualification period for convicts sentenced by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
A division bench of the high court suspended an earlier verdict of a single bench. The single bench had decided that the disqualification period for NAB case convicts would be five years instead of 10 years.
A bench comprising Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Justice Saman Riffat Imtiaz issued the restraining order. The court was hearing a NAB application against the ineligibility of Faiq Jamali, a PML-N ticket holder, who had been convicted in a reference of the bureau.
Jamali was a candidate for a provincial assembly seat in Balochistan.
The NAB prosecutor said the disqualification period for a convicted person started after his release from jail. “The punishment handed down to Faiq Jamali included 10 years of disqualification,” he added.
Jamali's sentence was upheld by even the Supreme Court, NAB Prosecutor Rafi Maqsood said.
Justice Kayani remarked that the punishment was not controversial.
The court then suspended the decision of a single bench regarding the disqualification period of NAB convict Faiq Jamali.
The Islamabad High Court also issued a notice to the attorney general for Pakistan.
Justice Kayani remarked that disqualification under Article 1(h) was only applicable to parliament and not provincial assembly.
The NAB prosecutor replied that the disqualification under Article 63(1)(h) was not applicable to the provincial assembly.
