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| Who are real beneficiaries of NRO? |
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Wednesday, November 04, 2009
By Usman Manzoor
ISLAMABAD: After the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) debacle in parliament, a new debate has started over who is maintaining the complete list of the NRO beneficiaries.
Sources in the National Accountability Bureau said the NAB was not maintaining any list of the NRO beneficiaries. “However, if any competent authority, court or parliament demanded the list, then the Accountability Courts concerned could be asked to furnish the same,” the sources said.
They added: “At present, we are not maintaining an organised list of the beneficiaries.”The sources said the NAB had been maintaining the record of cases that had been decided in courts and it could compile a list of the beneficiaries, if asked for it. However, there are thousands of cases dealt under the notorious law, of which the NAB has no clue.
The sources said three top political leaders and their cohorts had benefited from the NRO, while the number could rise in thousands if criminal cases were also included in the list.Former attorney-general Malik Muhammad Qayyum, while talking to The News, said that during his tenure, no such list was maintained. He, however, said the list of the NRO beneficiaries was either with the NAB or with the provincial law ministries. He said the number of the NRO beneficiaries in Sindh alone was over 2,200. He said apart from the NAB, it was the duty of the provincial law ministries and the provincial persecution departments to maintain a list of cases dealt under the NRO, along with its beneficiaries.
Acting Attorney-General Shah Khawar, advocate, said his office had no such list, adding that the list must be available with the NAB.NAB Prosecutor-General Danishwar Malik referred to some other person in the bureau, as he did not have any clue of the list of the NRO beneficiaries. Some officials in the NAB hinted that the list might be with NAB Chairman Naveed Ahsanm, but he could not be contacted.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
