Accountability court reopens 22 references

RAWALPINDI:

The judge of the Accountability Court of Rawalpindi, Raja Qamar Zaman, has reopened all 22 references following the annulment of the amendments made by the former Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led government into NAB law by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

These cases were suspended by the NAB courts after the enactment of tweaks to the NAB law. The court issued notices to all the accused in these cases for Monday, September 25. The court also ordered that the compliance of these notices be made on the weekend.

If the accused in the cases do not appear before the court the court will issue their arrest warrants. The cases include the Mudarba scam and corruption in housing societies worth billions of rupees.

NAB prosecutor Sardar Tahir told The Express Tribune that the accused who were protected through the NAB amendments will be arrested and sent to Adiala Jail. “There will be indictment of accused in eight big corruption cases,” he said and added that regular hearings of these references will continue in the next week.

There were four NAB courts in Rawalpindi of which three were abolished and their cases transferred to the NAB Court-I, where the judge opened these cases as an administrative judge. The cases of all abolished courts will be heard in this court.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 24^th, 2023.