NRO implementation: Gilani misused authority by appointing convicts, says SC

Judge says NAB trying to save key respondents of the case.


Web Desk November 14, 2012

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court observed that former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani misused his authority by appointing convicted people, including NRO beneficiaries Adnan Khwaja and Ahmed Riaz Sheikh, reported Express News on Wednesday.

A five-member bench, headed by Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, was hearing the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) implementation case.

During the hearing, Justice Jamali remarked that the appointment of Khwaja as the managing director of the state-run Oil and Gas Development Corporation (OGDC) and of Sheikh as the additional director general of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) was an important case.

He maintained that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was trying to save the key respondents of the case and apparently, the country’s top officials seem to be involved in corruption.

He questioned how a reference could be filed against the people who were appointed instead of the person who appointed them, while Justice Khilji Arif maintained that the convicted people were given a favour by Gilani.

Prosecutor General NAB KK Agha informed the court that no reference has been filed against Gilani.

The hearing was adjourned till December 4.

In its NRO ruling, the Supreme Court had directed NAB to take action against Sheikh, Khwaja and officials of the Establishment Division, Interior ministry and FIA who were involved in the illegal contractual appointment of Khawaja and illegal reinstatement and promotion of Sheikh.

‘Malik Qayyum misused authority as AG’

Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, during the hearing of the case, maintained that Malik Qayyum had misused his authority as the attorney general.

NAB authorities informed the court that Qayyum’s letter written to Swiss authorities in 2007 should be reviewed in light of the Asghar Khan and Anita Turab case.

Justice Jamali remarked that the government had detached itself from Qayyum’s letter and had retracted it while sending a new letter.

When asked whether a reference was filed against Qayyum, the NAB prosecutor general said that NAB wants the inquiry against Qayyum to be stopped.

The graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari were shelved in 2007 after the then attorney-general Malik Qayum wrote letters to the Swiss authorities following the promulgation of the NRO. The Supreme Court, however, scrapped the NRO in 2009 and declared that all cases closed under the defunct law stood open.

COMMENTS (7)

Kamran Naqvi | 11 years ago | Reply When will the corrupt & incompetent Gilani & sons will be brought to justice? Justice delayed is justice denied !!!
Sharafat Hunzai | 11 years ago | Reply

We must understand that it is a legal matter. We must appreciate that the judiciary has initiated its efforts to realize everyone that he/she is responsible to the law, regulation and the constitution. Time is near when all the corrupt people will be caught and answer before the law and law will make its own way.

This time the main problem is the ineligibility and inefficiency of the national investigation agencies. You are known well in the above case how the convicted and bad people were appointed in FIA and OGDC violating all rules and regulation.

So I think, we must appreciate and applaud the struggles and its decisions made by the judiciary.

VIEW MORE COMMENTS
Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ