Recovery of 15pc additional charges by NAB declared illegal

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday declared illegal the recovery of 15 percent additional incidental (operational) charges by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the plea bargain from the accused person.

The court directed the NAB Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to return Rs30 million amount to Syed Masoom Shah who had served as special assistant to former chief minister Ameer Haider Hoti.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Younas Thaheem allowed the writ petition of Syed Masoom Shah, filed against the 15 percent additional incidental charges by the NAB KP.

The bench issued direction to Ministry of Interior to remove the name of Syed Masoom Shah from the exit control list (ECL). The ministry had put the name of the petitioner on ECL on the court’s order during inquiry of the case.

The petitioner’s lawyer Barrister Waqar Khan submitted before the bench that the NAB Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had also received 15 percent incidental charges from his client, who had struck a plea bargain in a corruption case over readiness to return the Rs258.75 million ill-gotten wealth to the NAB.

The lawyer said under Section 25 of the National Accountability, Ordinance 1999, and in fact the whole aforesaid act does not mention the imposition and recovery of 15 percent incidental charges from an accused person who has agreed to an out-of-court settlement as envisaged under Section 25 of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999.

The lawyer said this offer was accepted by the NAB authority but 15 percent interest was charged on the total outstanding amount. However, there was no provision of law that could substantiate the imposition of 15 percent interest on the total outstanding amount, he added.

He requested the court to declare the imposition of 15 percent interest as illegal and a violation of Section 25 of the NAB Ordinance 1999.

The lawyer informed the bench that the Supreme Court, Lahore High Court, Balochistan High Court and Peshawar High Court had already declared the 15 percent incidental charges on the accused as illegal.

However, the senior prosecutors of the NAB KP submitted that the NAB was getting the 15 percent incidental charges. He said the accused at the time of plea bargain had agreed the plea bargain amount along with the 15 percent charges.

The petitioner had remained nazim of tehsil Shabqadar in Charsadda from 2001 to 2004 and subsequently served as special assistant to the chief minister during 2010 to 2013 when coalition government of Awami National Party and Pakistan People’s Party was ruling the province.

The properties allegedly possessed by him included a hujra on 12 kanal land at his village Battagram in Charsadda; two plots each at Hayatabad Township, Regi Model Town and DHA Karachi; a precious house on Tulip Road Bahria Town Rawalpindi; one kanal house at Zaryab Colony Peshawar; three kanals of precious land in Tehkal Bala Peshawar; and a kanal land in Warsak Road Peshawar.

The NAB alleges that the accused also possesses shares in Usman Construction Company Karachi and MSN Company Karachi. However, the petitioner after his arrested went into plea bargain with the NAB.