IHC sets aside NAB’s properties freeze order against British Pakistani
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has set-aside freezing orders on several properties of British Pakistani businessman Nisar Ahmed Afzal, observing the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had demonstrated high-handedness in its dealing in several ways – in a case that started on request of the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) related to £60 million alleged Birmingham mortgage fraud case.
IHC’s Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan noted several properties of Nisar Afzal and family members were frozen in Islamabad by the NAB in November 2021 for the purpose of recovery – on behalf of the UK authorities — but the agency failed to file a reference and failed to furnish any evidence of criminality against the British Pakistani family.
Interestingly, the NAB seized Afzal’s properties after UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) announced in November 2021 it has dropped the investigation against Nisar Afzal, bringing the matter to a close as there was no realistic prospect of a successful conviction, primarily due to lack of evidence.
However, NAB authorities in Pakistan froze Afzal’s assets on a request by the UK government, which was sent originally in 2017 and the NAB accepted it in November 2021 when the original case had already been over.
On August 7, 2017, the NCA through British High Commission Islamabad had lodged a complaint with Chairman NAB, alleging two real brothers namely Nisar Ahmaed Afzal and Saghir Ahmed Afzal and others were involved in a £60 million mortgage fraud in UK in the year 2004-2006, and that Nisar Afzal, however, fled away from UK to Pakistan along with part proceeds of £26 million which were received in Pakistan bank accounts. However, the IHC heard the NAB did nothing from 2017 onwards and moved to freeze properties in September 2021 and since then didn’t transmit the cases to Court of Session or any other court under the law, nor concluded the investigation report.
The judges noted the freezing orders cannot be continued when the principal offences in terms of National Accountability Ordinance 1999 stand repealed, and “this is not the mandate of law to put any person under caution or his properties be freezed forever, even when no complaint has been filed in the court of law nor any prosecution has been initiated from last more than seven years, such aspect clearly demonstrate the highhandedness on part of respondent authorities”.
The judges criticised the NAB for its conduct and culture of unfairly victimising people. They noted: “Such aspect left nothing in favour of NAB authorities who cannot hide behind their previous authority to proceed against the petitioner (Nisar Afzal) when the entire issue has been closed at their end. Therefore, if FIA authorities intends to proceed against the petitioner, they are at liberty to proceed with the matter under the law, and if they have any powers to put the properties under caution or able to freeze, they may do so within the four corners of law, but that is readily not available at present as so far the matter is not transmitted to FIA authorities. In such scenario, the right to property envisaged under the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, which is a supreme law, could not be curtailed at the whims and mercy of the NAB authorities, neither it is the mandate of law to curtail or suspend the right to property available to the petitioner. Hence, both the writ petitions are allowed and the freezing orders stand set-aside having no effect”.
Nisar Afzal’s case is one of the most interesting cases of British investigations, full of complex intrigues, allegations of bias and victimisation, racial prejudice and heavy-handedness of the investigators.
In November 2021, the SFO dropped the probe into Nisar Afzal after 15 years, confirming criminal proceedings against him have been closed, his seized assets have been returned and he is no longer subject to an arrest warrant and the Restraint Orders (RO).
Nisar Afzal’s brother Saghir Afzal was jailed for 10 years in 2011 around the time Nisar was kidnapped in Pakistan and Saghir’s lawyers told the Court of Appeal he was never involved in any criminal act but pleaded guilty under extreme duress.
They also said vital evidence should have been first gathered in Pakistan which the SFO didn’t obtain and the court would look at the case if the full evidence was before it during the trial.
In January 2022, the NAB announced it had taken court orders to seize possession of land measuring 1,125 acres of Nisar Afzal to make recoveries for the UK authorities.
This was because, according to correspondence, the NCA had offered to the NAB that it can keep 50pc of the assets recovered if NAB succeeded in finding assets of Nisar Afzal in Pakistan.
Nisar Afzal said: “I have been investigated for nearly 17 years and no evidence has been found against me. I was hounded in both countries, but in the end truth prevails”.
