Toshakhana case and Al-Qadir Trust case: ‘NAB not bound to inform Bushra about her arrest’

ISLAMABAD: The Accountability Court on Thursday ruled that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is not bound to inform former premier Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi before her arrest in Toshakhana case and Al-Qadir Trust case.

The Accountability Court judge, Muhammad Bashir, while announcing its reserved verdict disposed of the petition filed by Bushra Bibi, seeking court’s order to direct the NAB to inform her of her arrest in the Toshakhana and Al-Qadir Trust case.

During the hearing, the judge said that NAB has informed the court that it has no plan to arrest Khan’s wife and secondly as per the Islamabad High Court (IHC)’s ruling, the bureau is not bound to inform the suspect of his or her arrest.

Sardar Latif Khosa, counsel for Bushra Bibi, while giving arguments before the court that his client be informed before her arrest, cited court verdicts. “Both the Supreme Court and the Lahore High Court (LHC) in their rulings have said that the suspect be informed prior to his or her arrest in the NAB cases,” he said.

NAB Deputy Prosecutor General Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi said that there was no such clause in the NAB law that made it binding on the NAB to inform prior to arrest.

He also cited former President Asif Ali Zardari case before the court. The NAB should not play the game of “hide and seek”. “If it has no plan to arrest Bushra, then her bail should be confirmed,” Khosa said.

Abbasi said that the bureau was not seeking Bushra Bibi's arrest. The court after hearing arguments of both parties disposed of the petition.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023