NAB to file review petition in Hudaibiya case in SC next week

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) will file a review petition in the Supreme Court in the Hudaibiya Paper Mills case as well as a petition seeking the court’s direction to the government for the appointment of new prosecutor general in the anti-graft body.

A senior official in the NAB requesting anonymity told The News on Friday that a review petition in the Hudaibiya Paper Mills case as well as a petition seeking court direction to the federal government for appointment of prosecutor general will be filed next week. A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Justice Mushir Alam dismissed the appeal of NAB on December 15, seeking to set aside the judgment of the Lahore High Court (LHC) delivered in 2014, quashing a reference against the Sharif family in Hudaibiya Paper Mills case.

As per Article 188 of the constitution read with Order XXVI of the Supreme Court Rules, 1980, a review petition needs to be filed within 30 days from the date of judgment or order of the court. It was learnt that earlier, the NAB was waiting for detailed reasons of the apex court in its appeal, dismissed on December 15 and then to file a review petition but after the anti-graft body was guided that as it had already faced dismissal for filing its appeal against the LHC judgment quite late, hence it should not wait for the detailed reasons of the court and file the review petition at the earliest.

During the hearing of the NAB appeal in Hudaibiya Paper Mills case, the court had repeatedly asked the special prosecutor NAB to convince it as to how the respondents, the Sharif family including Mian Nawaz Sharif and his brother Mian Nawaz Sharif, had influenced the proceeding of the court by quashing the Rs1.2 billion Hudaibiya case. Justice Qazi Faiz Isa, a member of the bench, had asked why the anti-graft body did not proceed in nine months against the Sharif family in the case.

The official said the anti-graft body will also file a petition in the court for seeking direction for the appointment of the prosecutor general in the NAB. It is pertinent to mention here that the post of prosecutor general NAB has been vacant since last month after the retirement of Waqas Qadeer Dar.

The NAB has already sent a summary to the Law Division containing the names of five people for the post of prosecutor general. The five names include Shah Khawar, Nasir Saeed Sheikh, Fasihul Mulk, Syed Asghar Haider and Mudassar Khalid Abbasi.