NAB NOTICES IN TOSHAKHANA CASE.

ISLAMABAD   -   The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Monday served notices to the National Accountabil­ity Bureau (NAB) on petitions filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi challenging bureau’s notices in Toshakhana gifts sale case.

A two-judge bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Saman Raffat Imtiaz heard the petitions. Petitioners’ Lawyer Khwaja Haris argued that the NAB had not told in its notices that under status this informa­tion had been sought. It was mandatory for the bureau to give complete information as per the directives of the court, he said. To a query, he said that even af­ter the amendments in the NAB law it was compulsory to tell the reasons of summing someone. 

He said that the NAB had served call up notices to his clients. The NAB notices had only stated that there was an inquiry against former public office holder regarding the gifts received from Toshakhana. The lawyer said that Imran Khan had submitted written answer against the notices and so far did not appear in person. Jus­tice Farooq remarked that it was possible that the NAB might be satisfied with the an­swer of PTI’s chairman. 

The lawyer said that there was a risk that the NAB could convert the inquiry into the investigation. Addressing the NAB prosecutor, the chief jus­tice remarked that the imple­mentation of court orders was not being witnessed in NAB notices. He said that the court was not stopping the bureau from any action as it could ask any question from the petitioners. However, the court would issue an order in the petitions, he said. The law­yer said that Bushra Bibi was also served notice despite she had never been a public of­fice holder. The court earlier reserved its decision on main­tainability of the case and later served notices to responders. Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday issued standard operating pro­cedures (SOPs) regarding the appearance of Pakistan Teh­reek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan before it on April 6. The IHC Registrar’s Office, in a cir­cular, also instructed the dis­trict administration to ensure security arrangements during the appearance of Imran Khan.

It said the entrance of law­yers and journalists in the Court No.1 would be condition­al with special passes. Imran Khan will be allowed to take 15 lawyers along with him, while 10 lawyers of the attorney general and advocate general offices are permitted to enter the courtroom in addition to 30 members of the Islamabad High Court Journalists Asso­ciation (IHCJA). The registrar instructed the administration not to stop the people having special passes or departments cards to enter the court prem­ises. However, the IHC officers and staff would require no en­try passes. The IHC bench will take up Imran Khan’s bail peti­tions in eight cases on April 6.