The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday gave the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) three days to submit response regarding post-arrest bails of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Ahsan Iqbal.
A two-member bench of the IHC comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Lubna Saleem Pervez heard the petitions and warned the NAB that the high court would not entertain its request for any delay. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leaders Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Ahsan Iqbal have filed the petitions for their bails.
During the hearing, Abbasi's lawyer Barrister Zafarullah informed the bench that his client had been detained for over 200 days and he was being deprived of his fundamental rights. The anti-graft watchdog told the court that it would submit its reply within three to four days. Ahsan Iqbal's counsel Advocate Tariq Jahangir opposed the NAB's request seeking time. The case was deferred until February 13. Abbasi's petition said that former finance minister Dr Miftah Ismail and ex-managing director of the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) had already been granted bail in the same case.
It said that Abbasi held the portfolio of Prime Minister of Pakistan and Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources and he was a graduate of the University of California, with a degree in engineering; and has a postgraduate degree in engineering management from George Washington University, Washington DC.
Elected to the lower house of parliament from NA-124 (Lahore-II), Abbasi had been sent to Rawalpindi's Adiala jail on judicial remand in the reference filed against him by the NAB, the petition said.
The petition added that under Abbasi's tenure, Pakistan became surplus in natural gas and finally achieved an electricity surplus in November 2017, after facing power crisis for well over a decade.
The Foreign Direct Investment increased up to 87 percent due to the interest of the government and full commitment to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. The manufacturing industry saw growth of 9.64 percent during the tenure of the PML-N government.
The petition contended that Abbasi was a vocal advocate of constitutional supremacy, parliamentary democracy, fair electoral processes, rule of law, and due process. He had been vociferous in his criticism of present government's incompetence. It asserted that he was incarcerated due to his political views, and was a prisoner of conscience. It continued that Abbasi was emphatic about "selective accountability" by the NAB that resulted in reopening of an inquiry/investigation against him in the matter of LNG import despite the fact that the case had been closed by the bureau in 2016.
The anti-graft watchdog then arrested him on July 18, 2019.
The petition told the court that Abbasi being minister for petroleum and natural resources was also member of the federal cabinet, the cabinet committee on energy and the economic coordination council during the relevant period.
Creation of the LNG supply chain and import of LNG from Qatar was a basic ingredient in and critical part of the resolution of the energy crises, it added.
According to the petition, Abbasi has been detained in the death cell of the Adiala jail for more than 190 days but it did not lower his morale and he requested the court to ensure live coverage of legal proceedings so that the people of Pakistan could see the political engineering of the NAB and the present government.
Similarly, the bail plea filed by Azam Nazeer Tarar on behalf of Iqbal, maintained that the allegations were "false, frivolous and absurd" and the former planning minister had been arrested due to "political victimization being the secretary-general" of the ruling party's main opposition. The petition argued that the anti-graft watchdog had "no evidence" against Iqbal. Iqbal is seeking post-arrest bail in the Narowal Sports City project case.
The PML-N leader was arrested on December 23, 2019 for allegedly using funds from the federal government and the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) for the multi-billion rupee project in his hometown.
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