Pricey prosecution: Rs20 million paid to govt’s legal team in fees

Akram Sheikh reportedly charged Rs999 but his colleague Nasir-ud-Din Khan Nayyer has been paid Rs10 million.

ISLAMABAD:

While the former president’s treason trial is the first of its kind in the country’s judicial history, it stands out for another reason – the government’s kitty has dispensed Rs20.5 million so far in fees for its legal team.

The information was provided to the National Assembly by the interior ministry in response to a question by PTI’s Shafqat Mehmood. According to a document submitted in the lower house of parliament, the government’s legal teams have been divided into two categories – the prosecution and the constitutional team. While there is an overlap in names of lawyers in both categories, each has separate expenses.

Prosecutor Akram Sheikh has reportedly charged a token fee of Rs999 but his colleague Nasir-ud-Din Khan Nayyer, for instance, has been paid Rs10 million for his services in both categories. Similarly, Ishtiaq Ibrahim has charged separate amounts of Rs1 million for services in each team. Advocate Chaudhry Hasan Murtaza Mann, Barrister Natalya Kamal and Barrister Sajeel Sheryar were paid Rs500,000 for services to each team.



Faraz Raza and Muhammad Haider Imtiaz were paid Rs250,000 each for services in each team. Sardar Asmatullah and Tayyab Jafri have been paid Rs1 million as members of the prosecution team. Dr Tariq Hassan charged Rs1 million as the constitutional team’s lead lawyer, as did Chaudhry Ikram. According to the interior ministry’s document, Barrister Sherjeel Adnan Sheikh (from the prosecution team), and Raheel Kamran and Naeem Qureshi – of the constitutional team – have not been paid any amount to date.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 27^th, 2014.