SHC restrains ECP, NAB from taking coercive action against Sharmila

Karachi 

The Sindh High Court restrained on Wednesday the Election Commission of Pakistan, the National Accountability Bureau and others from taking any coercive action against Pakistan People’s Party MPA Sharmila Farooqi in connection with her disqualification conviction in a NAB corruption reference.

The interim order came on a petition filed by Farooqi, a legislator elected on a reserved seat women, who assailed a NAB letter issued to the Sindh government, the central bank, and the election commission about her disqualification sentence by the accountability court.

The NAB letter stated that Farooqi, her mother Anisa Farooqi and father Usman Farooqi, stood disqualified for 21 years as per the judegment of the accountability court on April 28, 2001 under Section 15 of the National Accountability Ordinance and sought action under the law.

According to the NAB reference, former Steel Mills chairman Usman Farooqi, her spouse Anisa Farooqi and daughter Sharmila Farooqi, were indicted by the accountability court for possessing national saving certificates worth Rs39,500,000 beyond their known source of income however the prior to the announcement of the judgement, the defendants had entered into plea bargain and agreed to return the money deposited in the national saving certificates.

The court had allowed the plea bargain but disqualified them for holding any public office for 21 years under Section 15 of the NAB Ordinance.

The petitioner’s counsel, Haseeb Jamali, submitted that the NAB letter issued to the election commission, the principal secretary to chief minister, and the State Bank of Pakistan was illegal.

He submitted that the apex court had reduced the disqualification under plea bargain from 21 to 10 years and the conviction of the petitioner under NAB Ordinance did not hold any field.

He requested the court to restrain NAB and other respondents from taking any coercive action against the petitioner.

An SHC division bench headed by Justice Syed Mohammad Farooq Shah observed that points raised in the petition required consideration and issued notices to the NAB deputy prosecutor general, the election commission and others and sought their comments on August 18.

The court in the meantime restrained the respondents from taking any coercive action against the petitioner until further orders.