Justice Khosa recuses himself from Hudabiya case
NAB petition referred back to CJP for formation of new bench
PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
Justice Asif Saeed Khosa on Monday distanced himself from a petition filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against the Lahore High Court’s order of quashing the Rs1.2 billion Hudabiya Papers Mills corruption reference against the Sharif family.
Justice Khosa was the head of a three-member bench of the Supreme Court which was constituted by the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) to take up the petition.
As soon as the court proceedings started on Monday, Justice Khosa recused himself from the petition and the court referred back to the CJP for formation of another bench to hear the case, which was subsequently adjourned for an indefinite period.
Giving reason for pulling back from the case, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa – the puisne judge of the Supreme Court who headed the bench that decided the Panamagate case – said he had already expressed his opinion in the Panamagate verdict.
Justice Khosa said the Supreme Court Registrar should not have presented the case in front of the bench. “Maybe the Registrar Office has not read my ruling in the Panama [Papers] case,” he said, adding, “My verdict of April 20 included a 14-para judgment on the Hudabiya Paper Mills case.”
SC to hear NAB’s reopening plea from Monday
On November 10, Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar had formed a three-judge bench, headed by Justice Khosa and comprising Justice Dost Muhammad Khan and Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel to consider whether or not to reopen the corruption reference.
Moved by NAB Prosecutor General Waqas Qadeer Dar on September 20, the petition requested the apex court to set aside the LHC’s March 11, 2014 judgment in the interest of “justice, fair play and equity”.
NAB has also filed in the Supreme Court a separate application, seeking condonation of the delay in filing the appeal.
“I’ve already recommended the National Accountability Bureau [NAB] for action on the observations [made by me],” Justice Khosa said.
NAB’s prosecutor general Imranul Haq requested the bench to fix the case for hearing next week.
However, Justice Khosa replied that a request to form a new bench had been forwarded to the CJP. He also said that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was nominated as an accused in the initial reference but later he became approver.
In his April 20 judgement, Justice Khosa’s 192-page note had directed NAB to proceed against Dar in connection with the Hudabiya Papers Mills reference case wherein he was not an accused person when the said reference was quashed by the LHC, which also barred re-investigation and set aside Dar’s confessional statement.
The honourable judge observed that there was an apparent flaw in the judgment as the reference to the LHC judge was on whether or not an observation could be made not regarding the re-investigation, and not as to whether re-investigation could be carried out. He also said NAB did not challenge the LHC verdict before the Supreme Court, and incidentally, Nawaz Sharif was prime minister at the time.
Hudabiya Paper Mills: SC seeks details of 17-year-old money laundering case
Justice Khosa also said that the reference was quashed by the LHC because in the investigation, the Sharifs had not been associated and Dar’s confessional statement had been made before a magistrate and not before a trial court.
With Justice Khosa recusing himself, the hearing in the case has been adjourned indefinitely. The chief justice is likely to announce the formation of a new bench by the end of this week or next week.
Almost 17 years ago, NAB had claimed that Sharif and his family received over Rs1 billion “through illegal and fraudulent means” and that they were liable to be tried under anti-corruption laws.
In 2014, the LHC quashed the Hudabiya Papers Mills reference against the Sharifs, and NAB did not challenge the order in the SC.
According to NAB documents, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune, now-deposed PM Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam, father Mian Muhammad Sharif, brothers Shehbaz Sharif and Abbas Sharif, Abbas’s wife Sabiha, Nawaz’s son Hussain, and Shehbaz’s son Hamza had been accused of receiving “ill-gotten money” in the case.
“All the accused persons colluded to commit acts of corruption and corrupt practices as defined under sections 9 and 10 of the NAB Ordinance,” former NAB chairman Lt Gen (retd) Khalid Maqbool told an accountability court.
There was an unexplained investment of Rs642.743 million appearing in the mill’s books as share deposit money. “This belonged to the directors, shareholders, and beneficial owners of the company, which they had fraudulently amassed under the garb of foreign equity investment,” said the final reference.
It said in 1999, the company settled a loan with London-based Al-Towfeek Company for investment funds by making a payment of $8.7 million. The source of this payment also appeared to be questionable.
“It appears from the evidence that in order to launder and conceal their ill-gotten wealth, both Sharif brothers opened fictitious foreign currency accounts in the names of various individuals with the active connivance of some of their close associates and employees,” said the reference.
After the passage of three years, NAB filed an appeal against LHC order in September 2017.
Justice Asif Saeed Khosa on Monday distanced himself from a petition filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against the Lahore High Court’s order of quashing the Rs1.2 billion Hudabiya Papers Mills corruption reference against the Sharif family.
Justice Khosa was the head of a three-member bench of the Supreme Court which was constituted by the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) to take up the petition.
As soon as the court proceedings started on Monday, Justice Khosa recused himself from the petition and the court referred back to the CJP for formation of another bench to hear the case, which was subsequently adjourned for an indefinite period.
Giving reason for pulling back from the case, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa – the puisne judge of the Supreme Court who headed the bench that decided the Panamagate case – said he had already expressed his opinion in the Panamagate verdict.
Justice Khosa said the Supreme Court Registrar should not have presented the case in front of the bench. “Maybe the Registrar Office has not read my ruling in the Panama [Papers] case,” he said, adding, “My verdict of April 20 included a 14-para judgment on the Hudabiya Paper Mills case.”
SC to hear NAB’s reopening plea from Monday
On November 10, Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar had formed a three-judge bench, headed by Justice Khosa and comprising Justice Dost Muhammad Khan and Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel to consider whether or not to reopen the corruption reference.
Moved by NAB Prosecutor General Waqas Qadeer Dar on September 20, the petition requested the apex court to set aside the LHC’s March 11, 2014 judgment in the interest of “justice, fair play and equity”.
NAB has also filed in the Supreme Court a separate application, seeking condonation of the delay in filing the appeal.
“I’ve already recommended the National Accountability Bureau [NAB] for action on the observations [made by me],” Justice Khosa said.
NAB’s prosecutor general Imranul Haq requested the bench to fix the case for hearing next week.
However, Justice Khosa replied that a request to form a new bench had been forwarded to the CJP. He also said that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was nominated as an accused in the initial reference but later he became approver.
In his April 20 judgement, Justice Khosa’s 192-page note had directed NAB to proceed against Dar in connection with the Hudabiya Papers Mills reference case wherein he was not an accused person when the said reference was quashed by the LHC, which also barred re-investigation and set aside Dar’s confessional statement.
The honourable judge observed that there was an apparent flaw in the judgment as the reference to the LHC judge was on whether or not an observation could be made not regarding the re-investigation, and not as to whether re-investigation could be carried out. He also said NAB did not challenge the LHC verdict before the Supreme Court, and incidentally, Nawaz Sharif was prime minister at the time.
Hudabiya Paper Mills: SC seeks details of 17-year-old money laundering case
Justice Khosa also said that the reference was quashed by the LHC because in the investigation, the Sharifs had not been associated and Dar’s confessional statement had been made before a magistrate and not before a trial court.
With Justice Khosa recusing himself, the hearing in the case has been adjourned indefinitely. The chief justice is likely to announce the formation of a new bench by the end of this week or next week.
Almost 17 years ago, NAB had claimed that Sharif and his family received over Rs1 billion “through illegal and fraudulent means” and that they were liable to be tried under anti-corruption laws.
In 2014, the LHC quashed the Hudabiya Papers Mills reference against the Sharifs, and NAB did not challenge the order in the SC.
According to NAB documents, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune, now-deposed PM Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam, father Mian Muhammad Sharif, brothers Shehbaz Sharif and Abbas Sharif, Abbas’s wife Sabiha, Nawaz’s son Hussain, and Shehbaz’s son Hamza had been accused of receiving “ill-gotten money” in the case.
“All the accused persons colluded to commit acts of corruption and corrupt practices as defined under sections 9 and 10 of the NAB Ordinance,” former NAB chairman Lt Gen (retd) Khalid Maqbool told an accountability court.
There was an unexplained investment of Rs642.743 million appearing in the mill’s books as share deposit money. “This belonged to the directors, shareholders, and beneficial owners of the company, which they had fraudulently amassed under the garb of foreign equity investment,” said the final reference.
It said in 1999, the company settled a loan with London-based Al-Towfeek Company for investment funds by making a payment of $8.7 million. The source of this payment also appeared to be questionable.
“It appears from the evidence that in order to launder and conceal their ill-gotten wealth, both Sharif brothers opened fictitious foreign currency accounts in the names of various individuals with the active connivance of some of their close associates and employees,” said the reference.
After the passage of three years, NAB filed an appeal against LHC order in September 2017.