SC orders 30 functioning accountability courts in a month

Apex court orders govt to appoint permanent law secretary

ISLAMABAD:

Amid opposition parties’ allegations that the accountability process is not just and even-handed, and is turning into a tool of political victimisation, the Supreme Court has ordered the government to make 30 new accountability courts functional within a month.

A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed on Tuesday resumed hearing in a case related to delay in the trial of graft cases.

On July 8 last year, the court had ordered the federal government to immediately appoint judges at five “vacant” accountability courts while “proposing” to establish at least 120 accountability courts in the country to deal with 1,226 pending cases.

Accountability courts were established under the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999 to adjudicate corruption references filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) within 30 days. However, the bench had noted that some corruption cases had been pending for even 15 to 20 years.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Additional Attorney General Sohail Mahmood, while submitting a report in the court, told the bench that the federal government has decided to set up accountability courts in phases, adding initially, 30 courts would be set up as a supplementary grant of Rs400 million would be approved for this purpose soon.

Likewise, Mahmood said the process regarding hiring of the court staff would be started from January 11.

However, the bench gave the government one month’s deadline to make 30 accountability courts fully functional. The hearing of the case was adjourned until the second week of February.

Meanwhile, lawyers were divided over the setting up of more accountability courts. One section says that the step would help conclude the trial of NAB accused expeditiously that are otherwise lingering for years without any convictions.

They also say that court proceedings in the matter reflect similarity of views of the judiciary and the executive with regard to early disposal of graft cases in the country.

The other section of lawyers fears that the accountability process may be misused against opposition parties’ leaders. They request the chief justice to ensure transparency in the process.

Similarly, lawyers are questioning whether the superior courts would also show the urgency in deciding appeals filed against the verdicts of accountability courts.

Currently, hundreds of appeals against accountability courts’ verdicts are being heard in the apex court pending decisions. The situation is the same in the high courts.

Pakistan Bar Council newly elected member Azam Nazeer Tarar, while commenting on the Supreme Court order said the situation on the ground does not warrant setting up of new accountability courts; rather, directives should be passed for early disposal of appeals being heard in superior courts.

Interestingly, a five-judge larger bench in Talat Ishaq case had noted that the unrealistic timeframe for the conclusion of a trial as specified in Section 16(a) of the NAO, 1999 may also be reconsidered and revisited by the legislature.

At present, there are 24 accountability courts functioning in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Lahore, Multan, Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur and Quetta. In addition, five vacant posts in the accountability courts had been filled through a notification issued on July 14, 2020.

The law ministry had already pointed out that setting up a new accountability court would cost Rs23.87 million per annum to the exchequer. Consequently, an amount of Rs2.86 billion per annum would be required to establish 120 accountability courts.

SC orders to appoint permanent law secretary

The bench in the same case also ordered the federal government to appoint a permanent law secretary, adding that the law ministry cannot work on an ad hoc basis.

The PTI government has yet to appoint a permanent law secretary since it took over charge some two-and-a-half years ago.