Search for ‘merit’ to detain Imran after NAB law changes

ISLAMABAD: Although hurriedly-amended NAB ordinance apparently signaled the government’s intention to arrest Imran Khan and his wife, officials privy to the graft investigation say it would nevertheless be difficult to detain them if the law is applied on merit.

The latest amendment to the National Accountability Ordinance has restored the power of NAB chairman to “issue warrant of arrest during the course of inquiry if the accused is not joining inquiry despite notices or willfully does not cooperate in such inquiry”. 

In the cases under question, though Imran was not cooperative in the beginning, he has been appearing as and when summoned by the investigators, hence can’t be arrested on the ground of non-appearance. Not only he had joined the investigation, Imran passes the buck to others to clear himself from the allegations, according to a source. Bushra Bibi, on the other hand, considers this a war between truth and falsehood in which she and her spouse would win.

Imran is being grilled on two counts: buying the gifts he received from abroad at negligible price through faulty evaluation of their worth and allowing the transfer of funds received from the UK’s National Crime Agency into the Supreme Court’s account as a payment of fine levied on the property tycoon by the apex court in a case related to encroachment of lands in Karachi. Bushra is being investigated as a trustee of the Al-Qadir Trust, which benefited from the property tycoon.

In the Toshakhana case, Imran has taken a position before NAB that he was not involved in the determination of the value of gifts he received from abroad. Instead, his military secretary was responsible for this. Hence, Imran argues, his former MS should be held to account in case the evaluation was not properly done. He is only responsible, Imran told investigators, in case the MS alleges that he (Imran) influenced him into maneuvering the evaluation process. “Ask him to say this in front of me,” he told NAB.

About the NCA case, he said that 190 million pounds were repatriated in light of the settlement reached between the NCA and the property tycoon. (NAB doesn’t have access to the settlement agreed between the two.) Imran insisted that the settlement suggested the money would go to the tycoon who wanted it to deposit in the SC account to pay his fine. In case the government has any objection, it could divert funds from that account to another one, he said. Asked what necessitated an approval from the cabinet, Imran on this question showed ignorance while saying that he was advised and thus he let it happen. But if this is something unlawful, he told NAB, it was the decision of the entire cabinet, hence all of them must be held responsible, not him alone. The NAB also summoned the cabinet members. Almost half of them said they couldn’t recall how this happened hence couldn’t provide details and the remaining half passed the buck to Shehzad Akbar, the accountability czar of Imran. Shehzad being abroad is out of NAB’s reach. Bushra told NAB that as a trustee, she is not the beneficiary. She said she was told that people of the area (where Al-Qadir University is set up) were poor and she together with her PM husband thought of founding a university. Whoever donated the money was spent on the university and not on her. The NAB gave her a questionnaire in English and she responded in Urdu saying she was not very well-educated, hence couldn’t reply in English. She said she got married after she did intermediate and hence couldn’t continue education afterward. 

A NAB official, while talking to The News, said that legally speaking there was no ground to arrest Imran and his wife even after the amendment to the accountability law as the former ruling couple was fully cooperating. Any arbitrary decision to this effect would be counterproductive as the court could grant him relief, he said. Right now, the NAB is counting on a bail plea filed by Imran in connection with a warrant issued by the accountability bureau in the past when he was not cooperating in the investigation. The Islamabad High Court has extended bail many a time as NAB mildly presses on for its cancellation by demanding that his custody is required. If the court doesn’t grant an extension any further, the warrant will be restored allowing NAB an opportunity to arrest him.