Supreme Court admits NAB plea against acquittal of Mehtab Abbasi

The Supreme Court on Thursday admitted the plea of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for regular hearing of the acquittal of former NWFP chief minister and incumbent Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) MNA Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan Abbasi in an accountability case.
The NAB had accused Mehtab of misusing his official position in the purchase of 100,000 tons of wheat from Karim Karobar at 151.57 dollars a ton against the lowest bid of South Asia for soft white wheat at 122.80 dollars a ton. A three-member bench of the apex court, comprising Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokhar, Justice Ijazul Hassan and Justice Zia Perwez, after hearing preliminary arguments, admitted the NAB plea for regular hearing. Muhammad Ibrahim Sattai represented the NAB, while advocate Afrasayab Chaudhry appeared for Mahtab Abbasi.
On April 3, 2003, the Rawalpindi Bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) acquitted Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan Abbasi of corruption charges. Sardar Mehtab, arrested in December 1999, had been awarded 14-year rigorous imprisonment plus a fine of Rs 20 million by an accountability court.
Co-accused Talha Ahmad, a trader from Karachi, had also been acquitted. Sardar Mehtab, who came out of jail in 2002 after getting bail on medical grounds, was elected Senator from the NWFP on PML (N) ticket. He had been provisionally allowed to stand for the Senate. Later, he became MNA from a constituency of Abbottabad in February 18, 2008 general elections.
A two-member appellate bench of the LHC, comprising Justice Mohammad Akhtar Shabbir and Justice Maulvi Anwarul Haq, in its short verdict, had held that the prosecution failed to prove charge against the accused. Co-accused Talha Ahmed was sentenced to seven years' rigorous imprisonment under section 10(b) and 9(a)(vi) of the NAB Ordinance. The accountability court had held that Rs 80 million should be recovered from the trader by selling his company's assets. The accountability court had released former NWFP food minister Abdul Ghafoor Judoon, who had turned an approver.