Court returns Rs3.2bn graft reference against Sharjeel, others to NAB

An accountability court on Monday returned a Rs3.2 billion corruption reference against Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon and others to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) over lack of jurisdiction.

Memon, along with then provincial information secretary, deputy directors of the information department, and others, was booked by NAB in 2016 over alleged corruption and corrupt practices/ misuse of authority in award of awareness campaign advertisements from July 2013 to June 2015, causing a loss of around 3.279 billion to the national exchequer.

Accountability Court-I Judge Tasneem Sultana announced her order on an application filed by three co-accused Salman Mansoor, Syed Naveed, and Umar Shahzad challenging the court’s jurisdiction to hear the case in light of the amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance. After hearing arguments from both sides at length, the judge allowed the application, the applicants’ lawyer Raj Ali Wahid Kunwar confirmed to The News.

Earlier, the counsel contended that the accountability law was amended by parliament through the National Accountability (Amendment) Act 2022 on June 22, 2022, adding that another amendment was brought to the law through National Accountability (Second Amendment) Act, 2022 on August 12.

He recalled that the amendments were challenged in the Supreme Court that later struck down some of them, while retained others on September 15, 2023. He said the top court classified persons into two distinct categories; public office holders and persons in the service of Pakistan.

The counsel argued that no allegation had been made against public office holders in the reference of accumulating any material benefit through their alleged illegal acts/ violations of law/ misuse of authority etc. “There is no allegation, even remotely, that any of the public office holder has actually either gained any material benefit for himself or for anyone acting on his behalf. So much so, the calculation of alleged loss is also based on mere presumptions,” he added.

Therefore, he said the reference didn’t fall within the ambit of the national graft buster and the court. Wahid said that NAB had conceded before the Sindh High Court during the hearing of Memon’s bail application that there was no evidence of any kickbacks or unjust pecuniary enrichment against public office holders. “The prosecution miserably failed to discharge the initial burden of showing the existence of personal interest, benefit or financial gain relatable to corruption and corrupt practices. In the absence of proof of any such gain, the accused personscannot be prosecuted for aiding and/or abetting any such alleged offence leveled in the instant reference,” he said. On the other hand, the NAB prosecutor contended that the reference was filed against Memon and others on the allegations of corruption and corrupt practices/ misuse of authority in 2016.

The investigation revealed that accused persons during the period from July 2013 to June 2015 illegally favoured advertising agencies which resulted in huge loss of Rs3.279 billion to the public exchequer, he added.

He said there were monetary gains on the part of the three applicants, which had clearly been established. The prosecutor argued that the reference fell well within the ambit of the court, requesting the judge to dismiss the application.