Implementation of NRO verdict: SC warns against further delay

KHUDAYAR MOHLA

ISLAMABAD: A special bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed displeasure over the non-implementation of the court verdict on National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) and issued directives to Prosecutor General NAB, Federal Law Secretary and Attorney General for Pakistan to submit a report pertaining to reasons behind the delay in the implementation of verdict.

Besides, the Chairman NAB was also directed to appear before the bench in the next hearing and inform the court about the steps that he had taken towards the NRO verdict implementation.

"The SC will take action against all concerned departments in letter and in spirit if the NRO verdict passed last year is not implemented by January 10," the bench observed.

Prosecutor General National Accountability (NAB) K.K Agha and the Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) appeared before the bench; federal secretary law was not present in the court.

During the hearing, Agha informed the bench that the NAB only probed the matter pertaining to misuse of authority, adding that there was no progress on the case after December 2010.

Justice Asif Saeed Khosa inquired from Agha whether the appointment of a matriculate Adnan Khawaja as MD Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) was not misuse of authority.

Justice Khosa directed the NAB to investigate the matter of appointment of NRO beneficiary Adnan Khuwaja as MD OGDC or else the bench would oversee the issue. The bench also directed the NAB to probe the matter of appointment of a convicted person, Ahmed Riaz Sheikh, as Additional DG FIA.

Meanwhile, the bench ordered Secretary Ministry of Interior Raja Ahsan to appear before the court and explain why facts were concealed in Sheikh's conviction in corruption cases.

The bench inquired from the AGP why the federal law secretary did not appear before the bench as he was directed to inform the bench on the progress relating to a letter from Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani to Swiss authorities after NRO verdict.

AGP told the bench that recently no summary relating to Swiss cases was sent to the Prime Minister because NRO review case was in the court. He added that the federal law secretary was not present in the court because he was abroad.

The bench issued directives to the federal law secretary to brief the bench on hearing about the steps that he had taken to ensure the implementation of the SC NRO verdict.

A seventeen-member SC bench had dismissed a review petition of the federation against the NRO verdict and ordered compliance without any delay.

The NRO implementation case revolved around writing a letter to the Swiss authorities to re-open graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. The Chief Justice also emphasized the need to retrieve $60 million from the Swiss banks, which were frozen after the case began in Switzerland but were unfrozen subsequent to the decision of the Pakistan government to withdraw the money laundering case as part of the NRO.

The bench adjourned hearing till Jan 10.