NAB unable to reopen Swiss cases, SC told

NAB presented to the Supreme Court a report which said that the bureau cannot move without a clear interpretation of the law. -File Photo 

 

ISLAMABAD: National Accountability Bureau Chairman Naveed Ahsan informed the Supreme Court on Wednesday about steps taken by the bureau to implement the NRO verdict, but expressed his helplessness in reopening money laundering cases against President Asif Zardari.  

The NAB presented in the court a report which reportedly says that the bureau cannot move without a clear interpretation of the law that authorises the bureau to seek international cooperation for reviving corruption cases against the president, who enjoys immunity under the Constitution.

Submission of the report preceded a meeting between Attorney General Anwar Mansoor and the NAB chairman, who later told reporters that revival of Swiss cases in compliance with the Supreme Court order was also discussed. At the last hearing on Friday, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry had upbraided NAB for sitting on the court order of reopening corruption cases closed under the National Reconciliation Ordinance. The court had also warned the NAB chairman that coercive measures would be taken against him, including attachment of his salary, and NAB representatives would be stopped from appearing before the court if compliance of the Dec 16 verdict was not done.

President Zardari and Benazir Bhutto have been accused of stashing $60 million in Swiss banks as kickbacks they had received for awarding pre-inspection contracts to SGS and Cotecna.

On Wednesday, the NAB chairman informed the court: “We will fully implement the (Supreme Court) verdict and have already sacked deputy prosecutor general Abdul Baseer Qureshi and a summary has been sent to the prime minister for removal of prosecutor general Dr Danishwar.”

Meanwhile, the attorney general remained tight-lipped and did not say anything except “no comments” when asked about speculations that he was considering tendering resignation than supporting government’s stance on the Swiss cases.

Initially, court staff raised some objections to the NAB report, but later accepted it when officials managed to produce documents supplementing the report.

The accountability bureau is reported to have stated in the report that although Section 21 of the NAB Ordinance allows the NAB chairman to request a foreign country to freeze assets or transfer custody of an accused to Pakistan and despite the fact that the Supreme Court has ordered reopening of Swiss cases, it has not interpreted Article 248 of the Constitution.

The article provides protection to the president from any criminal proceedings or process of arrest or imprisonment till he is at the President’s House. The report also contains record of the communication between NAB and the law ministry, which had on Tuesday barred the bureau from approaching the Swiss government for reopening money laundering cases.
The ministry said that since NAB acted as a prosecuting agency while pursuing cases in another country, it could not ask for reopening of such cases on its own or without permission of the government.MORE DETAILS.....