ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court's detailed judgment in Hudaibiya Papers Mills case is a charge sheet against a personality who pressurised the senior National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officers in September last year to file an appeal in the said case before the Supreme Court, despite the fact that there was no direct direction to NAB to do so in the Panama Papers case.
Justice Qazi Faiz Isa-headed bench of the Supreme Court tore apart the NAB's plea for re-investigating the Hudaibya Papers Mills case against the Sharif family, clearly stating that the case was nothing but persecution of the political family.
Initially, NAB did not file an appeal against the decision of the Lahore High Court in Hudaibiya Papers Mills case. However, after the decision of SC in Panama Papers case and the findings of a controversial Joint Investigation Team, NAB filed an appeal in the case after a lapse of three years. The NAB was under tremendous pressure to file the appeal in the SC against the Sharifs in Hudaibya case and who was pressurising NAB?
The News carried a story on the issue which was never rebutted. The story was filed by Editor Investigations, The News. This correspondent also confirmed it from different sources holding senior positions in the NAB and got it confirmed that a meeting was held in an office in Islamabad in September 2017 where a few senior officersof NAB were invited. They were reprimanded as to why NAB had not yet prepared the appeal in the Hudaibiya Paper Mills case against the Sharifs in the Supreme Court.
Hudaibya Paper Mills case appeal, if filed, was to extend the scope of the probe to Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shahbaz. The elder Sharif, former prime minister Nawaz, already stood disqualified while his children were also booked in the NAB references.
Sources in NAB say although the Bureau was not of the view to file the said appeal but given the pressure from a personality to do so, NAB filed the appeal but that too has been trashed by Supreme Court's three-member bench.
In the Supreme Court’s July 28th judgment, there was no direction given to the NAB to file an appeal in Hudaibiya Paper Mills case. The same has been relied on by the bench of Supreme Court headed by Justice Qazi Faiz Isa.
The Supreme Court judgment says that the money laundering act was enacted in 2007 while the Hudaibiya Papers Mills Case pertains to events that took place in 1992-93. Moreover, Justice Isa also said in the judgment that the statement of Ishaq Dar obtained by NAB in 2000 regarding the case is of no legal worth and if Dar's statement is considered even then, it says the money involved in Hudaibiya case belonged to the Sharif family.
Now the question arises whether any commission, council or JIT will investigate the personality who pressurised the NAB officers to file this appeal? The officers of NAB may be questioned in this regarding and would divulge the circumstances under which this controversial appeal was filed in the Supreme Court.