IHC orders release of 24 suspects facing graft charges

NAB prosecutor says suspects may tamper evidence against them if freed

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court on Thursday ordered the release of 24 suspects facing various corruption references filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infections in jail.

A divisional bench comprising IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Amir

Farooq ordered the release of the suspects on trial in the fake bank accounts, Mudaraba and Karkey cases.

They include Mustafa Zulqarnain, Khawaja Suleman, Hussain Lawai, Taha Raza, Najamul Zaman, Liaquat Qaimkhani, Faisal Nadeem, Aman Ullah, Dr Dansha, Nauman Qureshi, Abbas Ali, Javed Akhtar, Abdul Jabbar, Muhammad Arif and Jamil Ahmed.

The NAB prosecutor opposed the decision and requested the court not to release the suspects as they could “tamper the evidence” against them.

The chief justice observed that the sentence for the offences they were accused of committing was not more than 14 years but their lives were at risk in jail.

“Why do you want to keep under-trial suspects in detention when there’s a risk that the virus might spread in jail?” Justice Minallah asked the NAB prosecutor.

The judge further remarked that under trial suspects were considered innocent until their trials concluded.

Earlier, the IHC had ordered the release of petty offenders on bail in view of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. In a nine-page written order, Justice Minallah also directed the police to refrain from making unnecessary arrests.

In the order, the justice ordered the release of petty offenders who did not pose any threat to the general public. The order is applicable to only those under trail prisoners who are being tried in different courts within the limits of Islamabad capital territory.

The IHC had also ordered the conditional release of 408 prisoners from the Adiala Jail.

Justice Minallah also ordered the formation of a committee comprising officials nominated by the Islamabad Capital Territory chief commissioner, IG and the Anti-Narcotic Force director general to convince the court to release certain prisoners in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and reduce congestion in the jail.

CJ Minallah remarked that this was an emergency and similar steps had been taken in other countries, including the US.

The bench, however, maintained that it was only granting bail to under-trial prisoners. Furthermore, the bench observed that it was inappropriate to keep female prisoners in jail during such a critical situation.

CJ Minallah noted that those booked under the narcotics act were not involved in violent incidents.

(With input from APP)