The Supreme Court (SC) while rejecting presence of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) counsel in court in Ghani ur Rehman assets case has remarked that the NAB is now non existent institution due to non induction of chairman.
Apex court expressed grave concern over non-induction of NAB chairman and NAB prosecutor general maintaining NAB stands now fully dysfunctional and it does not exist now.
A 3-member SC bench presided over by Justice Tassadaq Hussain Jillani took up the petitions pertaining to frozen assets of former minister of Khyber Pakhtoonkhawa for hearing on Tuesday.
NAB Deputy Prosecutor General Rana Asghar appeared in the court during the course of hearing of the case. Justice Asif Khosa inquired from him under whose permission he was appearing in the court as NAB had become dysfunctional due to absence of its chairman. Rana Asghar told the court that he was appearing under the directives NAB director general but Justice Asif Saeed Khosa remarked that he (NAB counsel) was not authorised to do so.
Government had sought one-month time but NAB chairman and prosecutor general had not been appointed despite lapse of the given time. Investigation by NAB into corruption cases was also substandard; therefore, no arrested accused had been convicted. All the accused people would be acquitted if inquiry officers would be like that of NAB, he said further.
The SC granted the appeal pleas of family members of Ghani ur Rehman, set aside the trial court decision and restored all frozen assets.
