SC admonishes NAB for not complying with its orders

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday admonished National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officials for not complying with its repeated orders and directed the prosecutor general to submit a report pinpointing those officials who failed to implement its order in letter and spirit.
The court directed the NAB prosecutor general to submit comprehensive report pertaining to the pending inquiries, investigation and references filed against the NAB officials involved in misconduct. A two member bench of the apex court, comprising Justice Jawad S Khawaja and Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman heard various applications against NAB officials.
In pursuance of the court’s last order, the NAB Prosecutor General, Waqas Qadeer Dar, appeared before the court and submitted that accused Asghar Awan was not in the NAB custody but is in judicial custody. He further submitted that he had confirmed on telephone that the accused was not in the NAB custody. Justice Jawad S Khawaja, however, asked as to why the accused were kept in illegal confinement when they were not in judicial remand. The court directed the NAB prosecutor general to personally probe the instant case and submit the report.
Deputy Attorney General Sajid Ilyas Bhatti, while appearing before the court, submitted that the judge may release or discharge the accused with or without surety. “In the absence of judicial and physical remand, the detention is illegal,” Justice Jawad S Khawaja remarked, adding NAB does not give any importance to the liberty of a citizen.
He said that the court will not allow anyone to violate the Constitution and will ensure liberty of the citizen, guaranteed by the Constitution. “We are only interested in the liberty of the citizens,” Justice Khawaja said
Justice Jawad S Khawaja repeatedly referred to Article 10 sub-clause 4, which states that “no law providing for preventive detention shall be made except to deal with persons acting in a manner prejudicial to the integrity, security or defence of Pakistan.”
He observed that when the state itself violates the Constitution and denies the liberty of citizen then how one can expect the citizen to obey the law and Constitution. He further observed that they are quite aware of the Thana Culture prevailed in NAB and directed Deputy Prosecutor General Azam Khan to submit a report on it on the next date of hearing. On last hearing, the court had granted interim bail to two persons, Asghar Awan and Manzoor Ahmad, and counsel for Asghar Awan had told the court that an inquiry was initiated against his client which progressed to investigation but no reference was filed.
He said that the Accountability Court passed an order that senior officer of NAB confirmed to it that there was no likelihood of reference, therefore, no need to further extend the judicial remand. He had further informed the court that even though there is no court order to remand the man in judicial or NAB custody, but his client is still behind the bar.
On Friday, the court took strong exception to NAB’s deliberate non-compliance. Justice Jawad S Khawaja said that they had repeatedly issued notices to NAB, but their notices were thrown in dustbin.The court directed the NAB prosecutor general to find out those officials who thrown their orders in the dustbin and submit a detailed report by Monday.The prosecutor general sought some time for submitting the report; however, the court rejected his plea and directed to submit report by Monday and adjourned the hearing.