Former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for grant of post-arrest bail till conclusion of trial of the NAB reference or conclusion of investigations.
Khaqan Abbasi, who also remained minister for petroleum & natural resources, on Saturday filed a writ petition under Article 199 of Constitution through Barrister Zafarullah Khan and made the Federation of Pakistan, secretary Ministry of Law and chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as respondents.
He submitted that two co-accused; Imranul Haque and Miftah Ismail Ahmed, in the same matter have been granted post-arrest bail by this court on similar grounds, and on the principles of law of consistency it is respectfully submitted that this writ petition be accepted and relief be granted as prayed for.
Barrister Zafarullah stated that the NAB in its inquiry and investigation has not been able to disclose any irregularity or illegality in the tendering process of the Elengy Terminal Pakistan Ltd (ETPL), or on which the petitioner's actions resulted in a loss to the national exchequer. The project is operational to date and the contract has not been cancelled by the government. It could have done so if it was against public policy or public interest. However, since there is no illegality, the project continues and is 100% operational.
The NAB has arrested the petitioner without any proof of illegal benefit to himself, or his relatives, or evidence of illegal gratification constituting an offence of corrupt practices. It is only a case of political victimization. Thus, with the progress of time, connivance of the petitioner with Imranul Haque and Miftah Ismail Ahmed in the commission of an offence under NAB could not be established despite the best efforts of NAB to coerce these gentlemen.
He submitted till the filing of the instant writ petition, the petitioner has been in detention for 191 days. To date, no copy of a reference has been provided to him or other co-accused, even though much has been publicized in print and electronic media by NAB that a reference has been filed against the petitioner and other co-accused.
The investigation against the petitioner is the construction and operation of the M/S Engro Elengy Terminal Pakistan Ltd (EETPL), and alleged misuse of authority and causing loss to the national exchequer of an approximate amount exceeding Rs 1.544 billion. There is no explanation of the role that the petitioner had in these alleged crimes, or there is no explanation of how the loss of the aforesaid amount has been calculated, or the criterion adopted for the calculation of the said amount, or the names of beneficiaries of these alleged crimes.
The petitioner submitted that he takes full and complete responsibility for all decisions during his tenure, and there was neither any wrongdoing nor connivance with government functionaries to commit fraud or engage in illegal practices. The petitioner stated that the project has been successfully operating for the last five years, and the operations are continuing to date without any cancellation of the contract, or closure of the Elengy Terminal. Thus, if there was any credence in the allegations of fraud or ill-gotten gains in the commissioning of this terminal/project, the government of Pakistan could have cancelled the LNG import contract with Qatar or closed the operations of the Elengy Terminal. He submitted that compared to power generation with imported furnace oil, this terminal/project has over the last 5 years saved the government of Pakistan over Rs 1 trillion.
Comments
Comments are closed.