Several bigwigs land back into NAB’s hot waters

ISLAMABAD:

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar was among several bigwigs, who landed in hot waters on Friday after the Supreme Court struck down some sections of the amendments made to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) of 1999 by the previous PML-N-led coalition government.

The apex court’s decision on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan’s plea, challenging the amendments to the law has opened floodgates for many as the NAB’s report submitted before the court had named the leaders of almost all major political parties, who benefited from the law tweaks.

The NAB report showed details of the cases, whether at the inquiries, investigations or trial stage, that were affected by the amendments to the NAO. With the top court’s decision, NAB’s axe would fall on Kakar and others.

Experts said that their matters would be reopened from the stage where they were left if the decision was not struck down during review.

NAB had apprised the Supreme Court that Kakar, then a senator, was facing an inquiry wherein the allegations of “corruption and corrupt practices” and “accumulating assets beyond known sources of income” we being probed.

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The remarks section stated that the “amount involved is less than 500 million so affected by amendment in Section 5 (o) of NAO 1999 through Section 3 of the National Accountability (2nd Amendment) Act 2022.”

Other beneficiaries included Nawaz Sharif, Asif Zardari, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Maryam Nawaz, Faryal Talpur, Ishaq Dar, Khawaja Asif, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Rana Sanaullah, Javed Lateef, Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar, Amir Mehmood Kayani, Akram Durani , Saleem Mandiwala, Noor Alam Khan, Nawab Aslam Riasani, Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, Nawab Sanaullah Zehri, Barjees Tahir, Nawab Ali Wasan, Sharjeel Inaam Memom, Liaqat Jatoi, Amir Maqam, Gohram Bugti, Jaffer Khan Mandokhel and G-B Governor Syed Mehdi Shah.

In the judgment, a three-member bench, comprising Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Mansoor Ali Shah gave details of the number of cases and the total amount of money involved in the cases. The judgment came with 2-1 majority, as Justice Shah wrote the note of dissent.

The judgment stated that it was also pertinent to mention that as a result of the 2022 amendments a large number of references filed by the NAB in the accountability courts were affected.

The data, as provided by the additional prosecutor general of NAB revealed that 386 references were returned by the accountability courts to NAB in 2022, whereas 212 references were returned in 2023. Therefore, it added, a total of 598 references had been returned so far.

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Of these, 35 references pertained to elected public-office holders; and the public money involved in the returned references was more than Rs150 billion. It maintained that 327 of the 386 references were returned in 2022 due to the minimum pecuniary jurisdiction of NAB was increased to Rs500 million.

Of the 598 returned references, it continued, only 54 had yet been transferred to other courts for further action – 17 to the custom court and four to the banking court. As a result, 544 references were with the NAB in storage; and 127 remained with the accountability courts after the 2022 Amendments.

Cases of bigwigs

NAB, while giving details of former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif’s cases, informed the Supreme Court that the case regarding misuse of illegal allotment of 1,400 kanal of government land near Lal Suhanra National Park would be affected by recent amendment as the amount involved in this matter was less than Rs500 million.

Similarly, NAB stated that another matter regarding the misuse of authority against the Shehbaz and others would be affected as the amount involved in the alleged scam was less than Rs500 million.

Thirdly, an inquiry against Shehbaz Sharif and others regarding the illegal use of the prime minister jet from 2014 to 2018 would also be affected under Section 5 (o) of the NAB Amendment Act 2022.

Moreover, the NAB report read, investigation against former finance minister Ishaq Dar regarding the illegal appointment of the ZTBL CEO in violation of the Nationalisation Act of 1974 would be affected. It added that the investigation against the former federal minister for railways would also be closed under sections 4 (2)(b)(d)(e) and 9(a) (vi) of the NAB law.

NAB also informed the Supreme Court that an inquiry against PTI leader Shaukat Yousafzai in the alleged misuse of authority as the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa information minister would be affected as the amount involved in the scam was less than Rs500 million.

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Similarly, an inquiry against the PTI’s former health minister Amir Kayani, who had now joined IPP, regarding the misuse of the authority and obtaining of pecuniary advantage through dishonest and illegal means while framing the Drug Pricing Policy would be affected under Section 4(2)(a) of the National Accountability Amendment Act 2022.

NAB also informed that the inquiry against former PTI federal minister Khusro Bakhtiar, Makhdom Hasham Jawan Bakht and other family members on the offence of accumulation of assets would be affected under the 1st amendment to Section 4(2)(c).

The inquiry on the offence of assets beyond known sources of income against PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari, and his sister, Faryal Talpur, is affected under Section 4(2) (a) of the National Accountability Act 2022.

The inquiry against JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman would be closed as the property in the case in the name of the accused person was of nominal amount and the link of benamidars in the light of the new amendment act was very difficult.

NAB also apprised the top court that the inquiry against former chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Noor Alam Khan, in the assets beyond means case would be affected as the amount in the case was less than Rs500 million.

In compliance with the apex court order, NAB had submitted the list of all corruption cases which would be affected under the new amendments to the NAB law. According to the report, 755 cases at the inquiry stage as well as 292 cases at the investigation stage would have been affected under the new amendments.

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Out of those, 510 cases were those where the amount involved was less than Rs500 million and they would have been affected by an amendment in Section 5(o) of the NAO 1999 through Section 3 of the National Accountability (Second Amendment) Act 2022.

Some 168 cases related to the offence of assets beyond means under Section 9(a)(v) while some 213 cases relate to the charge of assets beyond means under Section 9(a)(vi) that would have been affected under new amendments. Similarly, 89 cases were related to cheat would have been affected.

Moreover, NAB informed the apex court that the inquiry against former defence minister Khawaja Asif into allegation that he got approved the Kent Housing Society and obtained occupied land of private individuals, and cheated members of the general public by misusing his authority would be affected.

The investigation against former MPA Abdul Aleem Khan on the charge that during years 2002 to 2018, he acquired assets, which were found to be disproportionate to his known sources of income to the tune of Rs1.4 billion, would be affected.

The report stated that the investigation against the Chaudhry Sugar Mill owned by the Sharif family, including Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz, would also be affected.

The investigation against former interior minister Rana Sanaullah on the charge of assets beyond known sources and assets in the name of benamidars amounting to Rs95 million, and illegal gains amounting to Rs100 million would be affected under the new NAB law.

A total of six cases against Nawaz Sharif would be affected in view of the recent amendments in the NAB law, it said. The inquiry against Transparency International of Pakistan Chairman Syed Adil Gilani would also be affected.

The Supreme Court had directed that NAB shall report the particulars of the cases in which inquires and investigations by the NAB authorities were in progress, but were suspended or stopped on account of amendments made to the NAO in the year 2022.