ISLAMABAD - The Islamabad High Court on Thursday reserved a verdict on a petition seeking court’s directives for initiation a NAB reference against former military ruler Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf.
The IHC division bench comprising Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb reserved the judgment after hearing arguments on a petition moved by Inam-ul-Rahiem advocate who had also prayed to the court to restrain Musharraf from “alienating and disposing of (selling) his assets and property till the final adjudication of the petition”.
The petitioner had cited the National Accountability Bureau chairman and Musharraf as respondents.
He had contended that he had filed a complaint/ reference with the NAB for initiating a reference against Musharraf with supportive documentary evidence involving Musharraf’s declarations made in his election papers when he appeared as a candidate for the National Assembly.
The petitioner had argued that as Musharraf held the office of Chief of Army Staff as well as president of Pakistan and in that capacity, he was duty bound to defend the motherland and protect the lives of his countrymen.
However, he by violating his oath, got his own countrymen and fellow Muslims abducted and sold them to Americans, which he has also confessed in his book ‘In the Line of Fire’.
He contended that Musharraf also injected corruption into the senior hierarchy of the armed forces by allotting them plots over and above their entitlements and the worst example was that he allotted more than 85 commercial as well as residential plots to Gen (retd) Yousaf, his then Vice Chief of Army Staff. Now, these beneficiaries and cronies are supporting Musharraf inciting the armed forces to support him.
The petitioner had stated that instead of taking any action under the law, the NAB returned his complaint without taking any action.
He had said that Musharraf started disposing of his ill-gotten assets on 06-01-2014 and it was reported by the print and the electronic media that he has placed his flats worth millions of pounds in the UK on sale.
He contended that under NAO 1999, the NAB was legally bound to proceed against the wrongdoer (public office holder) when the complaint had been filed but the anti-corruption bureau did not act in accordance with the law.
He had prayed the court to issue directives for the NAB to proceed against Musharraf in accordance with law and submit a report before the court in respect of findings on the complaint.