SC grills NAB for no progress on RPPs, OGRA chairman cases
A three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, was of the opinion that the NAB was reluctant to take action against influential persons involved in the case including the incumbent prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.
Premier Ashraf is among the five responsible persons who recommended Tauqir Sadiq to be appointed as the Ogra chairman despite him failing to meet the requirement of the post.
Ashraf is also one of the main accused in the case regarding misappropriations in RPPs.
The Supreme Court, in these two separate cases, had passed judgements and asked NAB to take necessary action against responsible persons including Ashraf.
The court subsequently issued contempt notices to seven officials belonging to the bureau for not implementing court orders. While, one of the investigators told the bench that they were removed from the investigation panel since July 2.
NAB’s prosecutor general Karim Khan Agha took shelter behind the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) for non-implementation of the judgements, saying that a clause in the ordinance states that if an accused returned the misappropriated amount, the cases against him would end and he would not be prosecuted and that the NAB officials were in negotiation with the accused for recovery.
During the hearing, Justice Jawwad S Khawaja observed that the NAB was protecting criminals by not initiating legal action against them despite court’s orders.
“NAB is completely ignoring the criminal aspect of this case and is defending the wrongdoers,” he said.
The chief justice said that criminal proceedings were necessary to deter future criminals.
Agha insisted that the court cannot interfere in the investigations carried out by the bureau and that it was NAB’s job to examine the allegations in its own way.
The chief justice told Agha that the bureau will not be allowed to ignore the court’s orders, to which the prosecutor general replied saying that the NAO was passed by the parliament which is supreme to all other institutions.
The bench, while expressing its dissatisfaction over NAB’s progress report, asked the bureau’s prosecutor to produce terms of references and proceedings of NAB’s executive board meetings regarding the procedure adopted for investigation into the case for implementation of the court’ orders for the RPPs scam.
The chief justice stated that the court will proceed further once the required records are submitted and reviewed. He said that if the progress made by the bureau is not satisfactory, action will be taken against the concerned officials including the NAB chairman, who asked court for more time.
The court adjourned the hearing till October 16.
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NAB chairman is appointed by the president so the decisions are obvious. He will favor the governement. It is matter of shame for NAB chairman to hold this position when the youth of the nation are jobless and he after serving as Naval chief still remians power hungry.
How can some of one become PM if his case is in the NAB? This is failure of institutions.
NAB is an independent entity, the treatment meted out by the supreme court appears to be contrary to the constitution and law. No one including the supreme court, can interfere into the working of the NAB, its independence must be respected. The polical parties should consider to bring an amendment into the constitution for establishing a separate section of supreme court for interpretation of the constitution. Present arrangement has made the Apex Court more powerful than dictators.
These bureaucrats do not have the moral courage to call a spade a spade. In order to save their skins and their undeserved perks and privileges, they are prepared to go any length to obstruct justice and shield corrupt politicians.
Plus., it's no secret that the post of OGRA chairman was decided after a bidding process (yes, you better believe it), in which the present chairman came up with the highest bid of Rs. 75 crore. Now imagine how much he'll make while being the OGRA chairman if he is willing to pay Rs. 75 crore upfront.
Welcome to the new PPP-ised Pakistan.
@Imran: Typical reactions of PPP fanboys who are feeling the sting now that the SC has woken up. NAB is just another dysfunctional civlian institution that needs an urgent injections of 'balls' (cojones). NAB and PAC of today typify what is wrong with Pakistan today, inaction against the 'big fish'.
Accountability starts from the top.
Can someone grill the CJ for looking the other way in cases related to terrorists, his son, and the PML-N, as well as for the below par performance with thousands of cases getting piled up? There should be some parliamentary oversight. No one should be unaccountable.
How can NAB make any progress now that SC itself has declared NAB as biased? Why is SC even expecting others apart from Arsalan to even have confidence in NAB to cooperate with NAB’s investigation? SC sure has two set of rules, one for itself and another for rest of us.