Ten-year disqualification for felons charged under accountability laws is reinstated by the IHC

ISLAMABAD: On Thursday, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended its previous decision limiting the same to five years and reinstated the 10-year disqualification for convicts charged under the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO).

The decision was made on an appeal filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against the disqualification of former Balochistan minister Mir Faiq Ali Jamali by an IHC division bench made up of Justices Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani and Saman Rifat Imtiaz.

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Since the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) allows for a 10-year disqualification for a convict, the accountability watchdog had challenged the IHC single-bench order on July 25 that limited the disqualification to five years.

Jamali was found guilty of corruption and given a 14-year prison sentence along with a Rs. 6 million fine by an accountability court. In October 2013, he was granted release from prison after serving his entire sentence.

Jamali was prohibited from running for office until 2026 by a three-judge Supreme Court bench that included Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, and the then-chief justice of Pakistan (CJP), Asif Saeed Khosa. The bench was presiding over cases in July 2019.

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The former minister filed the case to get permission to run in the elections.

Jamali and other leaders of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) joined the PPP last year. But he joined the PML-N two months ago, along with other electables.