Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the proceedings of a trial court on the references filed by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against former Secretary and Joint Secretary Establishment Division over appointment of NRO beneficiaries Adnan Khawaja as OGDCL head and promotion of Ahmed Riaz Sheikh as Additional Director General FIA.
A three-member bench of Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, Justice Tariq Pervez and Justice Ejaz Afzal halted the trial court proceedings till the second week of February in a matter regarding two references filed by NAB against former Secretary and Joint Secretary Ismael Qurashi and Akhlaq Jillani in the matter of appointment of Adnan A Khawaja, former head of OGDCL and promotion of Ahmed Riaz Sheikh as Additional Director General FIA.
During the course of proceedings, Prosecutor General NAB, KK Agha, submitted before the court that the Bureau filed references in the matter of appointment of Adnan A Khawaja and promotion of Ahmed Riaz Sheikh after it had examined the entire record. He contended that the decision to file a reference against former Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani had not been taken.
KK Agha further told the bench that the bureau had sent references against Adnan A Khawaja and Ahmed Riaz under court's pressure, adding that sending a reference against anyone was not the jurisdiction of a court but an investigation agency's. Justice Ejaz Afzal, however, told the Prosecutor General NAB that the court had not asked for sending a reference against anyone but told the NAB to follow rules and regulations.
Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali asked the Prosecutor General NAB whether he meant to say that only NAB could conduct investigation in corruption cases. Justice Tariq Pervez observed that the court wanted to look into the matter with a view to ascertaining whether or not the NAB had conducted the inquiry into a transparent manner. Justice Jamali remarked that the court would examine the performance of NAB and pass an order.
Referring to the matter of former Attorney General Malik Muhammad Qayyum, KK Agha told the court that after the decision of the board of the Bureau, the inquiry against former Attorney General had been suspended. Agha sought time from the court, arguing that the Bureau had summoned the former Prime Minister in the instant case; hence he should be given some time to hear the former Prime Minister.
Wasim Sajjad, the counsel for Malik Muhammad Qayyum, urged the court that the case against his client may be disposed of becasue the NAB had completed the inquiry against his client and decided the matter accordingly. Barrister Ali Zafar, the counsel for Ismael Qurashi and Akhlaq Gilani, contended that injustice had been done to his clients; hence references against them should be suspended. "The NAB has chosen two persons on court's pressure which is wrong and against the norms of justice hence such references must be rejected and suspended in the best interest of justice," Ali Zafar contended.