ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court of Pakistan Wednesday was informed by NAB that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, ex-PM Nawaz Sharif, former President Asif Ali Zardari, Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, and many businessmen and bureaucrats benefited from the amendments in National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 1999. A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Umar Ata Bandial, and comprising Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah conducted hearing of former prime minister Imran Khan’s petition against the amendments in the NAO, 1999.
During the hearing, NAB prosecutor in pursuance of the court direction submitted a report which contains the list of the parliamentarians whose cases were returned by the Accountability Court after the amendments in the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999.
According to report, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, his son Hamza Sharif, ex-PM Nawaz Sharif, former President Asif Ali Zardari, Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Asif Zardari’s friend Enver Majeed and his son benefited from the recent amendments introduced by the PML-N led government in the NAB law. The cases of ex-MNA Farzana Raja, Bahria Town Chief Executive Officer Malik Riaz, Zafar Gondal, Nawab Aslam Raisani, Lashkar Raisani, Asfandyar Kakar, Arbab Alamgir, Asma Arbab Alamgir and Sher Azam Wazir were also returned after the amendments.
The politicians who benefited during the regime of Imran Khan include former premier Yousaf Raza Gilani, ex-Finance Minister Shaukat Tareen, ex-Speaker Punjab Assembly Sibtain Khan, ex-PM Shaukat Aziz, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Saifullah Bangash, Liaquat Jatoi and Javed Ashraf Qazi.
The report stated that, besides the politicians, many bureaucrats, and businessmen also took advantage of the National Accountability Bureau (Amendments) Act, 2022.
During the proceedings, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah questioned whether with the amendments in the NAB law, a new class has been created, which has benefited from the changes in NAO. Makhdoom Ali Khan, representing the federation, replied this is not the case as NAB report shows that only a few parliamentarians benefited, while the majority of the beneficiaries of the amendments are the bureaucrats, businessmen, and other people.
He argued that in the petition of Dr Mubashir Hassan the statute (NRO) was struck down not on ground of the Islamic provision, but due to the violation of the Article 25 of the constitution.
