NICL judgement: NAB asked to file statement

The Supreme Court on Friday directed National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to file a concise statement about the steps taken for the implementation of the NICL judgment in letter and spirit. The court issued notice to former Chairman National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) Ayaz Khan Niazi and directed the NAB to provide record of Ayyaz's bail. The NAB was ordered to provide a comprehensive report to explain why the references against Ayaz and Mohsin Habib Warraich could not be decided despite the lapse of three years.
The NAB was also directed to inform who is responsible for the delay in deciding the references. "Provide us the detail of everything," the Chief Justice asked Additional Prosecutor General (APG) NAB Akbar Tarar. The court directed the NAB prosecutor to arrest Mohsin Warraich, who is a proclaimed offender, within 10 days. Earlier, a two-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and Justice Ijazul Ahsan heard the case of non-implementation of apex court's judgment on NICL. The bench questioned why Ayaz and Mohsin were not arrested yet.
APG Akbar Tarar informed the court that the cases in accountability courts were transferred from the Special Judge Central. He said the references against Ayaz and Mohsin are still pending in the accountability courts of Karachi and Lahore. He stated that Ayaz is on bail, which was granted to by Special Judge Central on 23-12-2011, while Mohsin Habibullah is a proclaimed offender (PO), adding that last year he got protective bail from Sindh High Court to appear before the Accountability Court but as the case was progressing, he ran away and again became PO.
The Chief Justice observed that a reference has been pending in the Accountability Court since 2014 and expressed concern with dismay why such reference was not decided yet. The court also requisitioned the record of SHC regarding NICL scam. The Chief Justice remarked that this is the performance of the NAB that the cases in which the apex court had passed judgments 5 to 7 years ago are still pending in the NAB courts. "I will fix the responsibility," the CJP added.
The case was adjourned until 13th May. The Supreme Court in its November 2014 judgment had ordered NAB chairman to have all these cases transferred on his file and proceed in accordance with law, take necessary steps for the recovery of outstanding amount and arrest Mohsin Habib Warraich, Amin Qasim Dada, Khalid Anwar, etc, as early as possible.
It had also ordered for registration of case against the then incumbent NAB Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry, Federal Tax Ombudsman Abdur Rauf Chaudhry and others under NAB Ordinance for creating hurdles and hampering investigation in National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) scam. The court also found former Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim, ex-secretary Suleman Ghani, ex-secretary establishment Ismail Qureshi and Nargis Sethi involved in the illegal appointment of Ayyaz Khan Niazi as NICL chairman and asked the NAB to investigate the matter.
The 52-page judgment authored by the then Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said: "They are liable to be dealt with under section 9(a)(vi) of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999 [as amended by National Accountability Bureau (Amendment) Ordinance, 2002] on account of NICL scam pertaining to Lahore and Karachi where allegedly offences of corruption and corrupt practices have been committed." The court noted that the appointment of Ayyaz Khan Niazi as NICL chairman was contrary to section 12 of the Insurance Ordinance, 2000 and rules framed thereunder, as non-transparent, illegal and unwarranted.
The judgment also noted that the notification dated 18-4-12 regarding transferring FIA ex-Additional Director Zafar Ahmed Qureshi, prima facie, also involves former FIA DG Malik Muhammad Iqbal; former Interior Secretary Qamar Zaman Chaudhry, former Establishment Secretary Abdul Rauf Chaudhry, ex-PS to PM Khushood Akhtar Lashari and the then FIA Lahore Director Waqar Haider as they created hurdles and hampered the smooth and transparent investigation entrusted to Zafar Qureshi in NICL scam.
The judgment said that prima facie they are also required to be dealt with under section 9(a)(vi) of NAO, 1999 as they wrongly exercised their authority to benefit Ayaz Khan Niazi and others from public money, which has been looted through non-transparent transactions from NICL.
The court noted that due to transfer of Zafar Ahmed Qureshi, an amount of Rs 420 million due against Mohsin Habib Warraich and others could not be recovered. Similarly, another huge amount has been deposited by the accused persons in bank account of Moonis Elahi with EFG Private Bank Ltd, London worth £1.138 million, in the name of a company owned by him and another account in the name of Beenish Khan (the wife of Mohsin Habib Warraich) in Barclays Bank London worth £0.102 million, had also not been recovered.
The court said that FIA after the transfer of Zafar Ahmed Qureshi failed to retrieve the outstanding amounts which were frozen, but were illegally activated without following the procedure, during the period he remained disassociated from the investigation of the case w.e.f. 19-4-2011 to 13-8-2011.