Bail petition of Khaqan, others: Mala fides on the part of NAB can't be ruled out: SHC

KARACHI: Sindh High Court (SHC) has declared that mala fides on the part of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to put political pressure on Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, former Prime Minister, to keep mum can't be ruled out while giving the observations in a detailed order of a bail petition of Abbasi and others.

A division bench of SHC released the detailed order in the bail petition of Abbasi and others in a reference pertaining to the illegal appointment of Managing Director (MD) of PSO on Friday. At the start of this month, SHC confirmed the interim pre-arrest bail of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, former petroleum secretary Arshad Mirza and two others in a reference about the alleged illegal appointments to two key posts in Pakistan State Oil (PSO).

The two-member bench headed by Justice K.K. Agha directed the interior ministry to put the names of all the petitioners on the exit control list. The court while issuing a detailed verdict on the bail of the former prime minister and others in case regarding the illegal appointment of Managing Director (MD) of PSO remarked that in pre-arrest bail plea one must prove that the investigation is based on false claims.

The verdict further states that Abbasi openly criticise the federal government and there is no denying that the NAB made the reference to bring the PML-N leader under political pressure. The verdict also states that the purpose of making reference against Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was to silence him, adding that the Supreme Court has already declared in the case of the Khawaja brothers that the anti-graft watchdog is only taking unilateral actions.

The verdict also says that when NAB prosecutor was asked about to number of cases that have been framed against the members of ruling party, he had no answer. According to the verdict, the then head of the federal government, Nawaz Sharif, was not included in the investigation.

"Interestingly, these allegations were not made part of the reference in the lower court," the ruling said while confirming the bail of all the accused, including Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. On May 19, the SHC had granted interim pre-arrest bail to Abbasi and others against a surety bond of Rs500,000 each.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed a reference against Abbasi of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Mirza, accusing them of appointing Sheikh Imranul Haq as managing director and Yaqoob Sattar as deputy managing director (finance) of PSO in violation of rules and regulations.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020