ISLAMABAD: In line with the Supreme Court’s order to restore graft cases against public office holders, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) submitted a record of corruption references to an accountability court in Islamabad.

Accountability Judge Muhammad Bashir directed the registrar of the court to review the cases’ records and present them before him.

The judge directed the NAB prosecutors to review the legal aspects of the cases as the nature of cases against private individuals, public office holders, and government employees is different.

The development came as NAB prosecutors Sohail Arif and Sardar Muzaffar appeared in the accountability court to brief the judge on the reopening of the cases.

“You [prosecutours] have to tell which case can be heard and which is not in a [court’s] jurisdiction, Judge Bashir stated.

NAB prosecutor Abbasi assured the judge that the anti-graft watchdog will ensure the implementation of the apex court order and submit all relevant records to the court.

On September 15, a three-member bench of the apex in a majority 2-1 verdict approved Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s petition challenging amendments made to the country’s accountability laws during the tenure of the previous Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led government.

The then-chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial-led bench ordered restoring all graft cases that were closed against the political leaders and public office holders and declared the amendments void.

In this regard, the anti-corruption watchdog wrote a letter to the registrar of an accountability court in the federal capital in line with the Supreme Court’s ruling.

Last week, NAB Chairman Lt-Gen (retd) Nazir Ahmed Butt summoned a consultative meeting to formulate the future course of action.

The cases will be reopened against former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif, Yousuf Raza Gillani, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Shehbaz Sharif, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, former president Asif Ali Zardari, former chief ministers of Sindh, Punjab as well as dozens of former federal and provincial ministers, according to The News.

Sources said the fake accounts cases against Zardari and the rental power plants case against Ashraf have also been reopened. They added that the Toshakhana vehicles cases against Zardari, Nawaz and Gillani would also be investigated again.

Other politicians who would face cases include former chief minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah, former finance minister Miftah Ismail and former finance minister Senator Ishaq Dar for amassing assets beyond known sources of income. 

• “They are culprits of Pakistan,” says former interior minister.
• Sanaullah says Bajwa, Faiz should be brought to justice for causing instability.
• PML-N to address problems of common man on priority, he adds. 

KARACHI: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former interior minister Rana Sanaullah has held former army chief Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa and former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Faiz Hamid responsible for prevailing political and economic crises in the country.

In an interview with a local TV channel on Wednesday, Sanaullah called the former top military officials “culprits of the nation”, demanding that they should be brought to justice for causing political and economic instability in the country, The News reported.

In response to a question, Sanaullah said: “These people are culprits of the nation. They are the culprits of Pakistan. They are culprits of not just the PML-N but also of the entire nation.”

“They will not be forgiven. These people must be held accountable. They are responsible for the current instability in the country and they must be asked why they created instability in 2017,” he added. 

Answering another question what action PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif would propose if his party came to power against Gen Bajwa, Gen Hamid, former chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar and a sitting senior Supreme Court judge whom he named while addressing his party’s Punjab Tanzeemi Committee meeting via video link on Tuesday or it was only a statement, Sanaullah said these people were responsible for citizens starving in the country because they brought about political instability, which in turn led to economic instability.

When asked what the PML-N’s plan was for “these national culprits”, he said his party would not rush towards revenge. In his address, he said, Sharif made it clear that first the injured person in need of urgent medical attention must be attended and then action should be taken against the culprits.

“If the PML-N gets an opportunity to come to power, first of all, our priority would be to address the problems of the common man, and later those responsible for their plight, in my opinion as the decision would be made by the party, should be booked in a case.”

Sanaullah further said that these culprits should be brought to justice just the way Pervez Musharraf was brought to the dock and the credit for that must be given to the PML-N.

To another query, if action would also be taken against the sitting SC judge named by Nawaz Sharif, he said, “Yes, [he] should be accountable…. Yesterday, Nawaz Sharif’s statement was a policy statement and he said these people should be held accountable.”

• NAB writes letter to registrar of accountability court
• NAB likely to submit record of cases to court in next two days. 
• Regional offices of anti-corruption watchdog compile data on cases. 

ISLAMABAD: After the Supreme Court’s verdict to strike down the amendments made to the anti-graft law, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) decided in principle to reopen corruption cases against political bigwigs, The News reported Thursday. 

On September 15, a three-member bench of the apex in a majority 2-1 verdict approved Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s petition challenging amendments made to the country’s accountability laws during the tenure of the previous Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led government.

The then-chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial-led bench ordered restoring all graft cases worth less than Rs500 million that were closed against the political leaders and public office holders and declared the amendments void. 

In this regard, the anti-corruption watchdog wrote a letter to the registrar of an accountability court in the federal capital in line with the Supreme Court’s ruling. 

Last week, NAB Chairman Lt-Gen (retd) Nazir Ahmed Butt summoned a consultative meeting to formulate the future course of action. 

NAB is likely to submit the record of all cases to the court in the next two days for resuming hearing. The cases will be reopened against former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif, Yousuf Raza Gillani, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Shehbaz Sharif, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, former president Asif Ali Zardari, former chief ministers of Sindh, Punjab as well as dozens of former federal and provincial ministers.

Sources said NAB was still continuing legal examination of cases that were closed earlier, and compiling records of cases that were at the stages of complaint verification, inquiries and investigations. 

Regional offices of NAB in Rawalpindi, Lahore, Multan, Sukkur, Karachi, Peshawar, and Quetta are compiling complete data of cases that would be submitted to the accountability courts, said sources. “NAB will fulfil its obligation once the legal consultation is finalised in the light of the Supreme Court decision in the NAB amendments case.”

Sources said the fake accounts cases against Zardari and the rental power plants case against Ashraf have also been reopened. They added that the Toshakhana vehicles cases against Zardari, Nawaz and Gillani would also be investigated again.

Other politicians who would face cases include former chief minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah, former finance minister Miftah Ismail and former finance minister Senator Ishaq Dar for amassing assets beyond known sources of income. 

NAB amendments

The NAB amendments not only reduced the four-year term of the NAB chairman and the bureau’s prosecutor general to three years but also placed all regulatory bodies functioning in the country out of NAB’s domain.

Furthermore, the changes included that a three-year term be set for the judges of the accountability courts and that courts be bound to decide a case within one year.

Challenging the amendments, Imran Khan approached the apex court and petitioned that the amendments be struck down on the grounds that they were unconstitutional.

The petition argued that amendments to sections 2, 4, 5, 6, 25 and 26 of the NAB law are against the Constitution, along with amendments made to sections 14, 15, 21 and 23.

Furthermore, the PTI chief argued that amendments in the NAB law are contrary to the fundamental rights of Articles 9, 14, 19, 24, and 25.

All these amendments made in the NAB law should be declared null and void, the PTI Chairman had requested.

To hear Khan’s plea, a special three-member bench was formed on July 15, 2022. The first hearing of the case against the NAB amendments was held on July 19 last year after Khan’s lawyer Khawaja Haris filed an application 184/3 against the NAB amendments.

Both the federation and NAB were made parties in the petition.