Attorney general’s move: Qadir asks NAB to open Arsalan case probe

Qadir requested the chairman to form a joint investigation team to look into the Arsalan Iftikhar case.

ISLAMABAD:

Attorney General Irfan Qadir on Wednesday wrote a letter to National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman Admiral (retd) Fasih Bokhari asking him to investigate the Arsalan Iftikhar case and submit fortnightly reports regarding the progress of the investigation.

Qadir, in his letter, requested the chairman, who previously maintained the case did not fall under the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999, to form a joint investigation team to look into the case. The letter suggested the team should comprise honest officials from NAB, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Islamabad Police in order to carry out an impartial and transparent inquiry.

NAB spokesperson Zafar Iqbal told The Express Tribune that banking and legal experts will also be included in the investigation team which will start its work in a week’s time. Responding to a question, he said NAB will consult its legal team to determine how an issue between two individuals can be investigated by the bureau. Iqbal added that NAB can only intervene if the case involved money laundering; the bureau will not investigate the issue otherwise.

Earlier, in the short order penned down during the hearing of the Arsalan Iftikhar case, the Supreme Court (SC) directed Qadir to proceed according to the law and take required action against business tycoon Malik Riaz, his son-in-law Salman and the chief justice’s son Arsalan Iftikhar.

Talking to The Express Tribune, the attorney general said he had set the state machinery in motion since it was his duty according to the apex court’s order. Regarding NAB’s reluctance to intervene in the case, Qadir maintained the bureau seek his legal opinion rather than anyone else’s.

On June 15, the attorney general’s office issued a statement saying that in view of the expectations expressed by the SC in its judgment on June 14, Qadir would soon undertake measures to accomplish the desired task. It added that he would also hold meetings with NAB Chairman, Law Secretary, Interior Secretary, FIA Director General and Islamabad police IG in this regard.

“The purpose of these deliberations is to explore the possibility of constituting a broad-based investigation team so as to rule out the possibility of any influence on either side thereby securing the ends of justice,” Qadir had said in that statement.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 21^st, 2012.