Fate of NAB amendments, cases linked to SC verdict

ISLAMABAD: The fate of corruption references returned by accountability courts against suspects including cases against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, his son Hamza Shahbaz and others is linked to the final decision of the Supreme Court.

It was reported in the media that accountability courts have returned 50 major corruption cases against suspects, including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The relief has been provided in line with amendments to National Accountability Bureau (NAB) laws. Legal experts, however, believe that as the amendments made by the government have been challenged by former Prime Minister Imran Khan in the Supreme Court and if the court declares the amendments unconstitutional, then the cases returned by accountability courts will then be deemed to be pending and start from the point they were returned.

It was also reported that cases against National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani have also been returned to the NAB by accountability courts. It was reported that the Ramzan Sugar Mill reference against PM Shehbaz and son Hamza was also among the cases sent back. The NAB had filed the reference in 2019, alleging that the two suspects “fraudulently and dishonestly” caused Rs213 million loss to the national exchequer.

Likewise, an accountability court returned six rental power plant (RPP) references against the NA speaker to the NAB. The NAB alleged that Pervaiz Ashraf had misused his powers in rental power projects being the minister for water and power during the PPP government.

A Universal Services Fund (USF) reference against PPP Senator Yusuf Raza Gilani in which he was accused of misusing authority in an illegal publicity campaign, was also returned. Similarly, NAB references against Senator Saleem Mandviwalla, former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sardar Mehtab Abbasi and PPP Senator Rubina Khalid were also returned.

Following the amendments to the NAB rules, references in Modaraba scams and company frauds have also been withdrawn from accountability courts.

In August, the National Assembly passed the National Accountability (Second Amendment) Bill, 2022, which sought excluding private transactions from the scope of the NAB. Under the amended bill, the pecuniary jurisdiction of the NAB had been fixed to only take action against mega scandals. Furthermore, it had been proposed that supplementary references can only be filed with the permission of court to expedite the proceedings of court within one year. As per the bill, investigation officers shall not harass any person during the investigation or inquiry and they will confine their questions relevant to the investigation or inquiry or for extracting evidence.

Commenting on the references returned by accountability courts, senior Supreme Court lawyer Hassan Irfan Khan said that if the law or provisions of law constituting offenses, were no more there, the cases have been correctly returned by courts, as a person cannot be made to suffer for even a moment.

However, he said, as the amendments to the NAB law had been challenged in the Supreme Court and if the court declared them to be without lawful authority and unconstitutional, the cases would then be deemed to be pending and start from the point they were returned.

Similarly, Hafiz Ahsan Khokar Advocate was of the view that as the new amendments had been challenged before the Supreme Court of Pakistan, its decision would have a great impact from the date when the amendments were passed by the parliament. He said that it would also have a legal impact on action or inaction by the NAB or NAB courts, especially the returning of references on the grounds of exclusion of jurisdiction by NAB courts in pursuance of recent amendments to the NAB Ordinance 1999. “All actions made by authorities and courts during the period from the introduction of NAB amendments since August 2022 up to the time of the decision of the Supreme Court would be legally subject to the final verdict and outcome of the proceedings of the Supreme Court of Pakistan”, he told The News.

Meanwhile, senior leader of Pakistan People’s Party Senator Raza Rabbani said that he might not support the amendment which fixes the amount under which the NAB has no jurisdiction to take cognizance. He said that the amendments had been passed by the parliament and were a valid law, adding that the Act might have been challenged before the Supreme Court but there was no adverse interim order against the operation of the Act.

“Meer pendency of litigation before a court cannot stop the operation of a law duly passed by the parliament”, Raza Rabbani told The News.