Corruption cases: SECP official takes government to court

IHC directs the respondents to submit replies by Nov 17

ISLAMABAD: A top official of the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), sacked for sending references of corruption cases to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), has taken the government to the court.

A petition has been filed before the Islamabad High Court last day seeking judicial intervention into the matter. SECP’s Executive Director Imran Iqbal Panjwani has submitted evidence into cases of billions of rupees corruption and subsequently sent their inquiry reports to the NAB due to which he was sacked.

The capital court has ordered the commission and other respondents in the case to submit their comments on this matter till November 17. The court has also barred the commission to summon Panjwani for explanation till further order.

Panjwani submitted an inquiry report to the accountability body once he was asked to do so in the case of Pakistan International Container Terminal, which was being kept secret from the bureau for the last past year.

The petition stated that chairman SECP issued a show cause notice to Panjwani for submitting an inquiry report to NAB. Iqbal held that whether it was a crime to cooperate with NAB on corruption cases. The petition also raised a question over SECP chairman’s authority to sack him while ignoring the relevant forum and procedure.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 15^th, 2015.