ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has been requested to recall the impugned order granting bail to Khawaja brethren in the Paragon City scam, and to expunge observations expressed in the detailed judgment.
Chairman and DG, Lahore, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Wednesday filed a review and prayed to expunged observations from paras 18 to 48 - 56 - 70.
A two-judge bench comprising Maqbool Baqir on July 20th had released detailed judgment of its 18th March order to grant bail to former railways minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) stalwart Khawaja Saad Rafique and his brother, Khawaja Salman Rafique, in the Paragon City corruption case.
The judgment authored by Justice Maqbool Baqir said the case of Khawaja brethren's bails was a classic example of trampling of fundamental rights, unlawful deprivation of freedom, and liberty, and the complete disregard for human dignity as guaranteed in the Constitution.
"NAB's conduct throughout this case is a clear manifestation of their utter disregard for law, fair play, equity and propriety. Indeed, curbing loot, plunder and combating corruption is a noble cause. Nonetheless, the means, process and mechanism employed therefore should be within the parameters as prescribed and mandated by the law and not in derogation thereof," said the judgment.
They submitted that the bail was an extra-ordinary remedy in non-bailable cases, and could be granted under compelling circumstances, highlighted and mentioned in Supreme Court judgment in Chairman NAB vs Nawaz Sharif, thus, no departure thereof was possible.
The NAB said, however, the principles of bail enshrined in Muhammad Shakeel or Muhammad Nawaz Sharif cases were not applied.
The bail order is to be short, direct and germane to the cause, but the present order spans over 87 pages and 93 paras, therefore, it is not in consonance with the guidelines settled.
The apex court, while rendering the impugned observation, has embarked upon detailed appraisement and analysis of evidence.
It has also discussed the evidence pertaining to most allegations leveled against the accused, which is extraneous to the cause and list, and also not part of the record appended.
The NAB has requested the court to expunge the observation expressed in para 93 of the detailed judgment as it will prejudice the case of prosecution because Khawaja Saad Rafique has created successfully a perception that this is a final order, and this is evident from the media reports.
The petition stated that the apex court made only a tentative assessment of material essential for grant of bail and exercised discretion in favour of the accused.
However, the accused has ventured on vilification spree of the NAB, wrongly portraying this order as a condemning verdict against the NAB.
This virtually has compromised the credibility of the NAB as an institution and will prejudice all pending matter regarding the NAB; therefore, the accused misused the concession of bail.
There is nothing on record to prove that the statement of approver, Qaiser Amin Butt, was result of any coercion or undue influence, thus, it can be relied upon for the purposes of grant or refusal of bail.
Article 9 of Constitution clearly stipulates and mandates that no person will be deprived of life or liberty save in accordance with law, thus, when arrest is permissible under law, it then is neither illegal nor transgression of law.
All the offences under the NAO, 1999 are cognizable and non-bailable [Sections 18(a) and 9(b)]; therefore, the chairman NAB is vested with the powers of arrest under Section 24 of the NAO, and consequently, there has been no transgression of law in the arrest of the accused.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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