To save PM in RPPs case, NAB chief attacks SC
ISLAMABAD: As a move to save the skin of the prime minister and other powerful people and make the independent judiciary controversial, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chief has opened the floodgates of allegations against the Supreme Court.
NAB Chairman Admiral (retd) Fasih Bokhari has written a harshly-worded letter to President Asif Ali Zardari in which he alleged that NAB personnel were under pressure from the Supreme Court and were not able to investigate cases independently.
In the two-page letter, Bokhari alleged that the contempt notices, verbal orders that differ from written orders and insufficient time to prepare numerous progress reports, were placing extreme pressure on NAB personnel who appear before the judges.
“There is even a danger that NAB personnel could lose their independence and will be unable to carry out their investigations in an independent manner due to the pressure being exerted on them by the honourable Supreme Court to proceed along lines which seem to be desired by the Supreme Court,” he said.
Bokhari’s letter came to the fore days after the mysterious death of NAB investigator Kamran Faisal in the Rental Power Projects (RPPs) scam. NAB released the contents of the letter on Monday but it did not mention when it was written.
In the letter, the NAB chairman said: “For the well-being of our people, justice must be ensured, while protecting them from those who would callously allow ‘the heavens to fall’ should these issues not be addressed expeditiously I will regretfully be forced to tender my resignation.”
He said in relieving the pressure, and to safeguard their jobs so as not to displease the court, there was a danger of unfair investigations being resorted to.He stated that this phenomenon was observable in the investigation of very senior politicians of the government where orders, to even arrest them, had been issued on investigation reports of regional investigators that had yet to reach the Executive Board meeting at NAB Headquarters that is chaired by him. “This could be constructed as a clear violation of powers of the Chairman NAB, and to some degree circumventing the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) which I am required to follow,” he stated in the letter to the president.
The NAB chairman said he was bound to follow the NAO, as it mandated him that no reference can be filed until he exercises his mind and decides that a clear case of criminality has been made out.
“I would be failing in my statutory duty if I shirk from uploading the law that I am mandated to protect. Let me assure you, Mr President that I will not flinch from processing whosoever may be identified as having committed a criminal act under the NAO. All are equal before the law. The nation expects that there be no scared cows, nor raging bulls.”
The retired Admiral stated in the letter that he was also “constrained to bring to your notice the revolt within NAB, clearly abetted by a certain section of the media that used the sad demise of Kamran Faisal to vilify him [Bokhari] and senior NAB officers.
Criticising the role of the media he said: “This section of the media appears to be acting as an intelligence unit influencing the public and possibly influencing certain members of the Judiciary. Long standing ‘stay’ on the taxes to be paid by this media house appears to be relevant also.
“This campaign, in which the role of the Honourable Supreme Court appears evident, is placing great pressure on me to please the honourable Supreme Court in what could be seen as pre-poll rigging and hurried unlawful action on my part.”
The NAB chairman said that he had resigned his commission as Chief of Naval Staff just prior to a military coup rather than violating his oath to the Constitution and was a part of the Pakistan Ex-Servicemen Association contingent that came on the streets protesting against the infamous November 3 emergency and latter for the movement of independence of the judiciary. “It is scared duty of every Pakistani to uphold, be guided by, and fiercely protect the law and Constitution,” he stated.
Bokhari said he feared that in the current direction that the Supreme Court appears to be taking he will not be able to perform his independent statutory role. “This situation needs to be addressed firmly in line with the aspirations of the people and the clear mandatory provisions of the law and Constitution,” he stated.
The NAB chairman said as a citizen he was concerned about the current priority vital national interest of achieving national cohesion before being able to address lower priority vital national interest such as HDI, Economic acceleration, infrastructure development, etc. “Relevant state institutions must look carefully at the possible role of the judiciary, and a section of the media, in undermining state institutions and the confidence of the people in the state itself,” he stated.
He stated in the letter the Ombudsman offices were established to also address the human rights issues and the need to allow the Supreme Court to be diverted from its prime roles as the final appellate and constitutional court may need to be addressed since ability to take suo moto notice of human rights cases can become an open license to undermine government and may be taking time away from addressing the issues of judicial management of the current huge pendency of the cases in the courts.
“In the absence of timely justice, the people are forced to take the law into their hands and their anger becomes focused on their government. The essence of law is to provide a moral benchmark to the society. That benchmark is sadly being lost by a judiciary that may be fast losing its own moral authority by relying on the contempt law, media, street power of lawyers and unchecked violations of the Supreme Court judges code of conduct,” he said.
To save PM in RPPs case, NAB chief attacks SC - thenews.com.pk
