ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court gave one week to the federal government to take corrective measures regarding the changes made to the Exit from Pakistan (Control) Rules, 2010.
“At this time, we do not like to interfere in the executive affairs,” said the chief justice, adding; “If the authorities do not take the right steps then they would pass an order, which may cause inconvenience.” “Not interfering in the functioning of the executive so you (the government) put things right. We give you one full week for this,” the chief justice told the attorney general.
A five-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, and Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar, on Friday heard the suo motu regarding the apprehension of undermining the criminal justice system.
The bench said the extraneous parties should not come in to influence the appointment of the Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The chief justice said they expect that a person with integrity and well repute will be appointed as the NAB chief. He hoped that the government will act sensibly in this matter.
Justice Bandial said they could not ignore the changes made in the NAB law, adding they are examining changes being made to the National Accountability Ordinance 1999 — the NAB law — by the federal government as it could not overlook the efforts to “minimise the role” of the accountability watchdog. He questioned why the changes were applied retroactively.
Justice Ijazul Ahsan asked Director General FIA Rai Tahir and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to seal the record of all high-profile cases and keep them in one allotted room in their offices and sent one copy of them to the Supreme Court.
During the proceeding, the chief justice said they are not to fix individual responsibility, but want that the process of law is strictly adhered to. The ministers against whom there were apprehensions should not have sat in the cabinet meeting, which approved the amendment to the ECL Rules.
Attorney General for Pakistan Ashtar Ausaf said that the changes in the ECL Rules were made in accordance with the law and the constitution. The government restored the fundamental rights of the citizens. He said according to his opinion there should be no law of the Exit Control List (ECL). Upon that chief justice said it may be his opinion, but the matter is of law.
The attorney general informed that 174 persons were removed from the ECL. The NAB has not provided reasons why it had recommended that these persons’ names be placed on the ECL.
The chief justice said whether the federal government had consulted the NAB before removing their names from the ECL. The Court noted that there are cases of corruption and corrupt practices against the persons whose names were removed from the ECL. There should have been a Standing Operating Procedure (SOP), which needs to be adopted before removing names from the ECL.
Justice Mazhar Akbar Ali Naqvi said whether the government had evaluated the matter by case to case. The AGP replied that due to the flux of time the government could not do it. Ausaf said that he would sit with the officials of the NAB, the Ministry of Interior, and other agencies to assess what should be the proper procedure in order to remove names from the ECL. He said there are many judgments of the apex court, wherein, it has been declared that the freedom of movement under Article 15 of the Constitution is the fundamental right, and it should be curtailed. Justice Mazahar Naqvi said that the government extended the right of movement under Article 15 to travel abroad.
Justice Ijaz inquired …what was hurry that on 19th April the Committee has recommended and two days later the government removed names from ECL. Justice Muneeb noted the ministers whose names were on the ECL were sitting in the cabinet meeting that amended the ECL Rules. He said this is a direct conflict of interest. He observed half of the cabinet is sitting abroad, adding the ministers should have followed the code of conduct in approving changes in the ECL, adding it seems they approved the changes to benefit themselves.
Justice Muneeb asked whether an amendment should be carried out if the relatives and friends of those who were doing it benefitted from it. He also asked why there was a hurry to remove names from the ECL. “There is no mention of the amendments being applied from past dates. How can ministers whose names are on the ECL decide to remove them?”
“The court included Khawaja Saad Rafique’s name [on the list],” the CJP pointed out to which the attorney general replied that Rafique was not present in the cabinet meeting that approved the amendments.
The attorney general contended that changing the ECL Rules was the collective wisdom of the cabinet. He said the prime minister [Shehbaz Sharif]’s name was also on the ECL, adding if he had not chaired the meeting then how the cabinet could have passed the amendment in the ECL rules. He informed that 30 persons have left the country, but 23 came back, while seven, including Sharjeel Inam Memon are still abroad.
The chief justice remarked that the court was aware the government had “freed” a person it had instructed to be jailed, without naming that person. When the attorney general argued that the reference against the said person was from 2018, the CJP noted the SC’s order was from 2021.
However, AGP Ausaf contended that the court’s orders had been implemented but the person was freed after the case was concluded.
Justice Bandial said if an agency was investigating someone, the government should hold discussions with it prior to removing the person’s name from the ECL.
The chief justice asked the NAB prosecutor generaland the FIA director-general to evaluate cases and if in any case finds no substantial evidence and the progress then disposed of them. Don’t punish someone against whom there is no concrete evidence. However, the CJP said, don’t throw away the record of the high-profile cases.
FIA Director-General Rai Tahir said that the cases involving an amount of Rs1 billion and above are considered high-profile cases. He further told that there are 42 high-profile cases i.e. 26 in Lahore, two in Islamabad, and 14 in Karachi. He stated that the persons in some cases are on the ECL.
The case was adjourned until June 14.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022