PHC declares incidental charges by NAB on plea bargain illegal

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

A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth allowed the writ petition of Raza Ali, a close relative of the former chief minister Ameer Haider Hoti, filed against the 15 percent additional incidental charges, which is more than Rs25 million.

The petitioner’s lawyer Barrister Zahoorul Haq submitted before the bench that the NAB Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was demanding 15 percent incidental charges from his client Raza Ali, who had struck a plea bargain in a multi-billion weapons scam in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Department worth Rs195 million and won his release.

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.

“An accused person, who is under arrest with the NAB authorities cannot be said to be a free person. For his freedom, he will agree to sign any document how illegal it may be. But then it is for the NAB authorities to ascertain that while entering into a plea bargain with an accused person the procedure according to law is strictly followed,” the lawyer argued.

The lawyer said this offer was accepted by the NAB authority but 15 percent interest was charged on the total outstanding amount. However, there is 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 also informed the bench that the Lahore High Court had already declared the 15 percent incidental charges on the accused as illegal. The Supreme Court of Pakistan had also upheld the Lahore High Court decision.

However, the Deputy Prosecutor General NAB KP, Jamil Khan, submitted that the NAB was getting the 15 percent incidental charges.He said the high court in its earlier orders had directed the petitioner to submit the plea bargain amount along with the 15 percent charges.

The PHC chief justice observed that now the Supreme Court had declared it illegal and thus the high court on the basis of the apex court decision declared the incidental charges illegal. Raza Ali, brother-in-law of Ameer Ghazan Hoti, was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau in the weapons procurement scam of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Department.