Witnesses die awaiting NAB courts to decide cases: SC

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday, while disposing of four appeals of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed against the decision of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on the suspension of sentences of four accused convicted by the NAB, said that half of the witnesses die during trial in NAB courts but the decisions were not delivered.
A division bench of the SC, comprising Justice Ameer Hani Muslim and Justice Gulzar Ahmad, heard the case. Counsel for NAB Barrister Saeedur Rehman and counsel for the defendant party Advocate Sardar Asmatullah appeared in the court.
Justice Ameer Hani Muslim remarked that any case that goes to the NAB will not take less than 10 years to decide. He further remarked that the NAB recovered Rs2 lakh on Rs5 lakh corruption through plea bargain and put 25 percent in its pocket.
He said that half of the witnesses died during the trial in the NAB courts but the trial remained incomplete. He said the NAB officials did not present solid facts in the courts. Justice Hani Muslim said the reference had been going on since 2006 against those persons but had remained incomplete so far.
The counsel for the NAB told the court that appeals of the NAB were pending in the high court and asked the court to order the high court to dispose of these appeals forthwith. Justice Ameer Hani Muslim said the NAB should itself file an early disposal of appeals in the high court.
Sardar Asmatullah told the court that his client, Salamat, did not take any financial benefit and, therefore, he was given relief from the high court. The Supreme Court disposed of the appeals filed by the NAB.
Earlier, the IHC had suspended the punishments awarded by the NAB court to four accused including Salamat on committing corruption in the purchase of goods and different items through the PTCL and M/s AJ Power Company for the telephone industry of Haripur Hazara. —Sabah