NAB an independent statutory body, officials told

While considering National Accountability Bureau's compliance of its judgement in Tauqeer Sadiq case, Supreme Court of Pakistan severely admonished NAB officials for pressurising Dewan Petroleum and others for writing them letters entitled "on the direction of Supreme Court". The Supreme Court reminded the NAB that it was an independent statutory body and that it did not need directions from the SC to perform its statutory functions.
The Supreme Court also repeatedly enquired from the NAB whether there was any case pending in the SC on the basis of which the NAB was using SC's name to pressurise Dewan Petroleum and others and if not then the practice of using SC's name must be stopped forthwith.
Dewan Petroleum had filed an application in the Supreme Court seeking to become a party to the proceedings of Tauqir Sadiq case because, according to them, the NAB was levelling baseless allegations in the SC against Dewan Petroleum and was thus conducting a media trial against the company. The Supreme Court categorically stated that there was no case pending in SC against Dewan Petroleum and hence, it rejected Dewan Petroleum's application to become a party.
When the counsel for Dewan Petroleum Syed Iqbal Haider, pointed out how the NAB had indulged in a media trial of Dewan Petroleum by levelling bogus allegations against the company in the garb of SC direction, the Supreme Court directed the NAB not to harass, nor take any illegal action against Dewan Petroleum.
It may be recalled that last week, Dewan Petroleum had filed a petition against the NAB before Islamabad High Court on the basis that NAB had no jurisdiction in the matter of Dewan Petroleum's dispute with government over fixation of gas price because the company had not received a single rupee that it was being alleged to have received and that the price dispute was sub judice in a review petition pending before the Supreme Court. On the first hearing of that petition, after hearing arguments in detail, a division bench of Islamabad High Court had already restrained the NAB from arresting any director or executive of Dewan Petroleum and had also stopped it from taking any adverse action against Dewan Petroleum.-PR