Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a notice to Advisor to the Prime Minister on Aviation and dual nationality holder Shujaat Azeem. A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry resumed the hearing of irregularities in the construction of New Benazir Bhutto International Airport (NBBIA) case.
The bench also sought details of shareholders and Directors of the Royal Airport Services Private Limited from Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) to ascertain whether or not Azeem and Munir Ahmed, one of the main infrastructure contractors for the NBBIA, were partners.
The apex court had taken the notice of the appointment of Azeem as Advisor to the PM on Aviation during the hearing of NBBIA construction case. During the course of proceedings, Iftikhar Gillani, the counsel for Director General Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), drew the attention of the bench towards a news story regarding Canadian nationality of Azeem.
The news item had highlighted the relaxed policy of the government towards dual nationals as Azeem was the partner of the NBBIA project infrastructure construction contractor. Azeem, a former pilot of Lebanese Hariri family, was said to be court martialled by Pakistan Air Force for serving as a pilot in a foreign country without prior permission, the newspaper had reported. The Supreme Court had sought a reply from the government about the appointment of a dual nationality holder as Adviser to the PM on Aviation.
On Wednesday, Additional Attorney General for Pakistan Shah Khawar apprised the bench that Azeem was not a partner of any contractor in NBBIA project construction; however, he said he was a dual national. A member of the bench, Justice Jawwad S Khawaja repeatedly asked Shah Khawar to assist the court over Azeem's status in the Royal Airport Services Private Limited. The bench later asked the SECP representative, present in the court, to submit the required information. Later, the hearing of case was adjourned till July 25 (today).
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