ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court directed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) counsel to satisfy it that amendments in the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 1999, are in violation of the fundamental rights and the constitutional provisions.
A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and also comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, on Monday heard the constitutional petition of PTI Chairman Imran Khan against the amendments in the NAO 1999.
The chief justice asked the PTI’s counsel that are you referring to the NAB reports showing how much amount has to be recovered, which was agreed to in the voluntary return and plea bargain, but said ultimately you would have to show which fundamental rights are violated and in breach of the constitutional provisions.
Justice Bandial asked Khawaja Haris if he was saying that under the Amnesty Scheme people declared amounts and they were given tax exemption. He further asked him are you saying they have admitted to the amount, but have not disclosed the source of their income, and yet they got off scot-free.
Haris, representing PTI Chairman Imran Khan, argued that after the amendments the accused, who agreed to make the payment as a result of the plea bargain, would stop paying the instalments, and they ask the NAB to return the amount, which they had already paid in the arrangement.
Justice Ijazul Ahsan remarked that it means in view of the amendments the remaining amount will not be recovered. He said if this happens then the economy will suffer.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah said there is no mention in the amendment that the amount recovered would have to be returned. He said that money would remain with the government. He told the counsel that till now his arguments are based on speculations.
Earlier, Haris argued that after the amendments many references have been returned to the NAB. He cited the NAB Annual Reports of 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 to show how much amount is agreed in voluntary return and plea bargain, and how much money is recovered. According to the report, since the NAB’s inception from 2000 to 2018, the NAB recovered Rs342.527 billion.
In 2018 amount agreed (under VR+PB) was Rs5,332.776 million, while Rs3,349.738 million was recovered; in 2019 amount recovered was Rs141.542 billion; in 2020 the amount agreed in plea bargain was Rs17,278 million while the amount recovered was Rs8,224.39 million; in 2021, the amount agreed in plea bargain/ voluntary return was Rs16,086.68 million, while amount recovered was Rs6,204.14 million.
The reports further mentioned that in 2020 the cases under process at NAB against former presidents was three, former/ sitting prime ministers 16, former/ sitting MNAs/ ministers/ senators/ MPAs 126, serving/ retired senior bureaucrats 159, and fake accounts 28. Similarly, the number of trials at Accountability Court against former/ sitting prime ministers were 16, former/ sitting MNAs/ ministers/ senators/ MPAs 63, serving/ retired senior bureaucrats 252, and fake accounts 28.
In 2021 the under process at NAB against former presidents was six, former/ sitting prime ministers 13, former/ sitting MNAs/ ministers/ senators/ MPAs 201, serving/ retired senior bureaucrats 199, and fake accounts 42.
Similarly, under trial at Accountability Court against a former president five, former/ sitting prime ministers six, former/ sitting MNAs/ ministers/ senators/ MPAs 79, serving/ retired senior bureaucrats 155, and fake accounts 14.
The case was adjourned until today (Tuesday).
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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