PM aide says doesn’t get salary as ARU chief

Shahzad Akbar rejects allegation Assets Recovery Unit spied on Justice Qazi Faez Isa, his family

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Accountability Shahzad Akbar has told the apex court that he does not get any salary or benefit as head of the Asset Recovery Unit (ARU) – a specialized body formed by the PTI government to bring back ill-gotten wealth stashed abroad.

Akbar is one of the respondents in a petition filed by Justice Qazi Faez Isa against a presidential reference that seeks his removal over alleged misconduct. The judge had accused the ARU and other government agencies of spying on him and his family to collect data about their foreign properties.

In a reply submitted by Akbar and another official of the ARU to the 10-judge full court hearing Justice Isa’s petition against the reference, the SAPM dismissed the allegation that the ARU conducted surveillance of Justice Qazi Faez Isa and his family.

“In the present case there has been no surveillance or covert surveillance in relation to the petitioner or his family. All adverse allegations in this regard are vehemently denied,” said the reply.

It said owners of immovable properties in question cannot raise any objection against anyone seeking details in relation to their UK properties. They are stopped from raising any objection.

The concise statement said immovable properties in the UK are registered in the UK Land Registry, which is an open source. “There is no secrecy. There is no reasonable expectation of privacy with regards to detail of immovable property in the UK.”

It said the detail of those residing in any immovable property in the UK can be accessed through open source websites such as 192.com and UK phone book.com. Once the address is determined, the owner of that immovable property can be found through other open sources such as the UK Land Registry

It said both ARU officials also filed copies of extract from the UK Land Registry in relation to 40 Oakdale Road London E11, 4DL UK dated April 5, 2019 which was annexed by Abdul Hameed Dogar along with his original complaint to the ARU dated April 10, 2019.

The PTI government had filed the presidential reference in May 2019 on the basis of Dogar’s complaint.



Interestingly, the extract was not submitted to the SC earlier – a fact that the bench expressed wonder at. According to the reply, the details were earlier missed due to oversight.

The reply also explained how ARU was established by the federal government, claiming that the apex court order in a suo motu case had provided impetus to the formation of the unit.

It claimed that it was top agenda of the PTI government to retrieve ill-gotten money from abroad. On August 27, 2018, a task force was formed for this matter and same was converted into the ARU which was also approved by the federal cabinet under rules of business.

"The petitioner (Justice Isa) cannot launch any collateral attack in this petition on the formation, establishment or working of the ARU. Nor any collateral attack be launched on the appointment or working of respondents 8 and 9 (Shahzad Akbar and Ziaul Mustafa Nasim),” the reply said.

He also requested the SC to dismiss Justice Isa petition with an exemplary cost on Justice Isa.