Skip to main content

PPP slams NAB for asking SC to expunge remarks against Musharraf

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has slammed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for asking the Supreme Court to expunge remarks against former military ruler retired Gen Pervez Musharraf from its judgement in the Hudaibya Paper Mills case.

Former Senate chairman and PPP leader Mian Raza Rabbani on Tuesday said: “It is a matter of great concern and bewilderment that NAB asked the Supreme Court of Pakistan to expunge observations from its Jan 5 judgement concerning Gen Musharraf. This action of NAB speaks volumes about its mindset and is condemned.”

In a statement, he said observations made in the sixth paragraph of the judgement were a narration of historical facts in terms of actions taken by Gen Musharraf in Oct 1999.

“This mindset of NAB… reflects on its ability to pursue across-the-board accountability; perhaps such a mindset is in the way of investigation not proceeding in matters in which retired officers of the armed forces are involved,” the senator remarked.

On Jan 5, a three-judge apex court bench — comprising Justice Mushir Alam, Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel — had rejected NAB’s appeal against the 2014 Lahore High Court order quashing the Hudaibya Paper Mills reference.

In its review petition, NAB had requested the court to expunge paragraphs 6, 23, 27 and 32 from the Hudaibya judgement by arguing that they seemed to be superfluous and irrelevant.

In paragraph 6 of the judgement, the apex court had recalled how Gen Musharraf ousted the democratically elected government on Oct 12, 1999, as the then army chief and proclaimed emergency on Oct 14, putting the Constitution in abeyance.

Just a month after assuming power, Gen Musharraf had enacted the National Accountability Ordinance 1999 and appointed a serving general, Gen Syed Muhammad Amjad, to head NAB, the judgement had stated.

The Supreme Court, while rejecting the NAB’s plea for review on Monday, wondered why the anti-graft watchdog was seeking to expunge observations from its Jan 5, 2018, judgement that concerned former president Gen Musharraf.

“Why do you want to get these paragraphs expunged? Is there anything wrong with mentioning Gen Musharraf for ousting a democratically elected government and was it not a fact that trial against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif took place at the Attock Fort,” Justice Isa had said.

“No ground for review is made out,” observed Justice Alam before dismissing the review petition.

Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2018



from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/2zeVXHU
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Trump says he urged team to ‘slow’ COVID-19 testing

US President Donald Trump said Saturday he was encouraging health officials in his administration to slow down coronavirus testing, arguing that increased tests lead to more cases being discovered. The president has claimed falsely on several occasions that surges of COVID-19 in several states can be explained by greater numbers of diagnostic tests. At his first rally since the outbreak forced nationwide shutdowns in March, Trump told the crowd in Tulsa, Oklahoma that testing was a “double-edged sword.” The United States — which has more deaths and cases than any other country — has carried out more than 25 million coronavirus tests, placing it outside the top 20 countries in the world, per capita. “Here is the bad part: When you do testing to that extent, you are going to find more people, you will find more cases,” Trump argued. “So I said to my people ‘slow the testing down.’ They test and they test.” It was not clear from Trump’s tone if he was playing to the crowd, who ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Rouhani calls Imran, discusses resumption of trade

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Iran on Wednesday discussed full resumption of bilateral trade, which was halted last month because of the Covid-19 pandemic. “The two sides stressed the need to reactivate borders and border markets and strengthen trade ties by following health guidelines,” a statement issued by the Iranian presidency on the telephonic conversation between Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Dr Hassan Rouhani said. President Rouhani had called the prime minister for Ramazan greetings. Border trade between the two countries was suspended after a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC), held on March 13, decided to close all borders because of the pandemic. Islamabad partially relaxed the restrictions on April 21, allowing the import of certain food items and provision of petrol and diesel to the border areas. Cargo traffic from Iran was allowed for three days every week. Cargo movement between the two countries takes place through five border crossings — Taftan...
Post a Comment
Read more

Today’s outlook: Sindh CM discusses reopening markets with PM Khan

Here are some of the stories we are expecting to follow today (Thursday): Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah will take Prime Minister Imran Khan into confidence over reopening shops and markets across the province. The reopened markets will have to follow SOPs. Sindh Transport Minister Awais Qadir Shah will discuss SOPs with transporters for resuming public transport in the coming days. The meeting will be held at the Sindh Assembly building at 1:30pm. The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority has proposed a price cut of Rs20.68 per litre for petrol in its summary. Imam-e-Kaaba Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais has said Masjid Al Haram and Masjid Al Nabawi will be reopened for worshipers soon. He said the Kaaba is being sterilised using latest technologies. Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar will head various meetings during his visit to Bahawalpur. As of Thursday, Pakistan has reported more than 15,500 confirmed coronavirus cases. ICYMI: An amendment to the National Accountability Or...
Post a Comment
Read more