Khursheed Shah urges SC, SHC to take notice of Ali Nawaz’s sentence

KARACHI: Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah on Saturday appealed to the chief justices of Supreme Court and Sinthe dh High Court to take suo moto notice of a recent judgment of an accountability court against PPP MPA Ali Nawaz Shah and seek explanation from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for securing what he called such an unjust court decision.
“This case was registered during the rule of Pervez Musharraf. We expect no justice from our opponents, as they can take any action against us, but we have faith in our Constitution and courts but what to say when such decisions are being delivered by the courts,” he said while addressing a press conference at the PPP Sindh Media Cell here.
“The support we lent for passage of a new law from parliament was solely meant to catch jet-black terrorists, but this law should not be used in any manner against politicians,” said the opposition leader while referring to the passage of 21st Amendment from parliament widening the anti-terror powers of law-enforcement agencies.
“When courts start delivering such judgments then suspicions arise automatically about their neutrality. When courts stop delivering justice then alarm bells would start ringing,” Khursheed said.
“For the first time we are making such an appeal to the chief justices so that accountability courts don’t deliver judgments in future,” he said.
He said baseless allegations were leveled against Ali Nawaz Shah who remained minister in the PPP’s previous government.
Khursheed said his and other PPP leaders’ meeting with Ali Nawaz Shah at the Central Jail Karachi had been blown out of all proportion by the media as if there was much harm in meeting him.
“His politics is so much clean that even none of his opponents could make any allegation against him. A false allegation of corruption was leveled against such a good person who has decided against availing himself of the facility of exoneration from corruption cases through the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO). We will continue to face all such cases,” said the opposition leader.
“The NAB court did what it wanted to do to Ali Nawaz Shah but the media didn’t consider at all what injustice was being meted out to a person who had done politics along side Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Such a politician can commit no fraud,” he said.
Khursheed said a total of 56 accused were implicated in the case but judgment was delivered against only five persons while the sentence was decreed on total sum of suspicious money Rs15,441 when the NAB had the power to inquire into cases where the sum of alleged embezzled went between Rs20.5 billion and Rs30 billion.
He said in the same case implicating Ali Nawaz Shah Wapda offered MPA Ali Nawaz Rs8 million in 1995 for acquiring 13 acres of his land for Left Bank Outfall Drain, but he refused the offer and sought payment in accordance with the actual price of his land.
“On the one hand campaign of doing justice is being trumpeted, on the other Ali Nawaz Shah has been sentenced in a false case.
If sentences of such kind are delivered then suspicions about the fairness of court judgments will certainly arise making people think that politicised decisions are being made completely on unfair basis,” said Khursheed Shah.
He said the PPP would continue to do reconciliation and oppose corruption, wrongdoings and misdeeds of the rulers, privatization and such ill-advised decisions, exploitation of labourers and farmers and also against terrorism. He said the PP would never make any compromise on issues concerning people.
To a question, the opposition leader said before taking credit for restoration of peace in Karachi, the federal government should concentrate on certain districts of the Punjab where the same party had been ruling but these places were witnessing a bad law and order situation.
He said the PPP-led Sindh government had overcome terrorism and lawlessness in the province to a great extent.
He said 95 per cent peace had been restored in interior Sindh while the ratio of similar success in Karachi ranged between 60 to 70 per cent.