Supreme Court to initiate contempt of court proceedings against NAB officials

A single bench of Supreme Court headed by justice Javed Iqbal here on Friday ordered that 'contempt of court proceedings' would be initiated against the Director General and Deputy Prosecutor General of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Balochistan for flouting wilfully the order of the apex Court and indulging in an unnecessary correspondence with the court.
The bench further ordered that 'contempt of court proceedings' will also be initiated against two Investigation Officers (IOs) of the NAB, Noor Muhammad and Abdus Salam for conducting raids on office and residence of the complainant, Abdul Majeed without completion of necessary and mandatory legal formalities.
The orders came when the bench expressed its dissatisfaction over explanation submitted by Prosecutor General NAB Islamabad, Dr Danishwar Malik on behalf of DG NAB Balochistan, Major General Shahid Hashmat and it observed that the order of the SC was flouted and disobeyed deliberately by the NAB officials.
It also expressed its dissatisfaction over explanation furnished by the IOs and ordered that 'contempt of court' proceedings be initiated against them.
"NAB is not above any law", the bench remarked and further observed that the Ios crossed their limits and jurisdiction by conducting raids on residence and office of the complainant in Karachi last month.
It also ordered the DG NAB Balochistan to take disciplinary action against the IOs for exceeding their lawful jurisdiction and powers. It ordered the officials concerned of the SC Quetta Registry to send the entire record of the case to main Registry of SC Islamabad for further initiation of action.
The bench issued the orders on a complaint filed by a citizen, Abdul Majeed in SC Quetta Registry against the Regional NAB officials on July 26, 2007. The complainant submitted that the NAB officials did not release his son, Nadeem Majeed, despite the fact that the Court had issued his release order on bail and the surety bond as required by the court was deposited on July 4 and copies of the order had been sent to the NAB office on July 5 and 17, 2007 respectively.