ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court (SC) has fixed all review petitions filed in the case involving alleged money-laundering of billions of rupees through fake bank accounts by former president Asif Ali Zardari, for hearing on February 19.

SC Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa has constituted a three-judge Special Bench headed by him. The other members of the Special Bench are Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Ijazul Ahsan, the judge who authored January 7, 2018 judgement wherein several directions were given to investigate the accused.

Nine review petitions have been filed against Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and the Government of Sindh.

The review petitions also include Omni Group, a company termed front man of Zardari by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) constituted in the case, and its owners.

After submission of the damning report by the JIT, wherein it recommended 16 enquiries, the three-judge bench led by the then Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar in January issued a 24-page written order, referring the matter to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and clarifying that removal of Bilawal and Murad’s names from the Exit Control List (ECL) would not prevent the accountability watchdog from probing their cases further.

The top court had further ruled that all members of the JIT shall be associated with the NAB for the purposes of assisting in any further probe that NAB may consider necessary or appropriate in order to satisfy itself about the fulfilment of legal and procedural requirements and to complete the investigation in its entirety.

The NAB was directed that if it considers expedient and appropriate to conduct any further or additional probe involving the matters which are the subject of the report of the JIT from a point of view of determining the true facts, it shall be free to do so in Islamabad. “However, such probe, inquiry or investigation shall be completed within a maximum period of two months. Thereafter, in case, cognizable offences are made out, the recommendations contained in paragraph 300 at page 124 of the Final (Synthesis) Report shall be acted upon and the requisite Reference shall be filed in the concerned Accountability Court,” the top court had ruled.

All the review petitioners have rejected the contents of JIT terming them as surmises and conjectures.

Dr Samad did PhD in Sanskrit in Asia from Germany, a full bright scholar and a gold medallist in archaeology. He had also been awarded the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz by the federal government for his services.

Interestingly, the Supreme Court Special committee on illegal appointments in NAB had recommended in its report to repatriate the services of DG NAB KP to his parent department but the Chairman NAB ignored the recommendations of special committee and he did not remove him from the post.  

PM Imran Khan first time showed his reaction against arrest of any official and suggested the Chairman NAB to take action against the officers who were involved in the arrest of Dr Samad. However, NAB had arrested the PTI senior leader and senior minister of Punjab Cabinet Aleem Khan but the PM did not even pass a single word over his arrest. - NOKHAIZ SAHI