SC verdict: NAB can proceed against non-public office holders

Bench declares all and sundry can be charged, tried under NAB Ordinance.

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court on Friday declared that besides public office holders, private people can also be charged and tried under the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Ordinance 1999.

A detailed judgment released by a three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, determined unambiguously that the NAB Ordinance would be applicable to all accused persons, irrespective of whether or not they were public office holders.

“For what has been discussed above we hold and declare that the provisions of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999 are applicable even to a person who is not a holder of a public office and also to a person who has not aided, assisted, abetted, attempted or acted in conspiracy with a holder of a public office and the words ‘any other person’ appearing in section 9(a) of the said Ordinance are to be understood and applied accordingly,” noted Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, who authored the judgment.



The verdict further read, “For the removal of any doubt or ambiguity it is clarified that a stand alone private person can be proceeded against under the said Ordinance if the other conditions mentioned in that Ordinance in that respect are satisfied.”

The bench, also comprising Justice Amir Hani Muslim, had reserved its judgment after multiple appeals in different cases under NAB laws reached the apex court with the point that the law did not apply to those who were not holders of a public office.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2013.