NAB moves IHC against bail to Capt Safdar

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Friday filed a petition with the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking judicial custody of Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar, revoking his release on bail.

The accountability court granted bail to Captain Safdar on October 9 after he was arrested by NAB at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport soon after arrival from London. On October 2, the court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Safdar after he did not appear before it despite summons. In its petition, the NAB has cited Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar and Accountability Court (AC) as respondents. In its application, the NAB said Captain Safdar was an accused in the Avenfield Apartments corruption reference.

The court had summoned him on September 14 for September 19. After Safdar’s non-appearance, the court issued his fresh summons asking him to appear on September 26.  Following his non-appearance, the court issued his non-bailable arrest warrant on October 2. On October 8, the NAB arrested the accused from airport and produced him before the court. 

The court instead of remanding him in judicial custody of NAB, released him on bail against Rs5 million surety bonds which the NAB termed unlawful. In its petition, NAB contended that the court had no powers to grant bail to the accused under Section 9(b) of the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999.

The bureau has requested the court to set aside the accountability court orders declaring them illegal and without jurisdiction and Captain (R) Safdar may be remanded in their judicial custody. The petition has been filed through the Special Prosecutor Muhammad Afzal Qureshi.