A civil affair

The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the dissolution of the Suddle Commission that was formed to probe graft charges against Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry’s son Dr Arsalan Iftikhar, ordering the report be made public.
The commission had been tasked with investigating allegations of the Rs 342 million business deal between Dr Arsalan and realtor Malik Riaz.
During the hearing on Friday, Riaz’s counsel Zahid Bokhari contended that the Shoaib Suddle Commission’s report was biased and his client did not trust the commission. Justice Jawwad S Khawaja questioned whether he wanted investigation through an agency like NAB, to which Bokhari responded that an investigation, not a commission should probe into the issue.
Justice Khawaja said the Suddle Commission’s report was public property and it should be made public. However, Zahid Bokhari said the report had already been leaked and had been published even before being submitted to the court. Justice Khawaja said nobody could restrain anyone from speculations.
He referred to a statement reported in the media quoting the NAB chief as saying that it was a matter between two individuals and no exchequer money was involved, therefore, NAB had no jurisdiction in the matter.
The bench, comprising Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, observed that the court had taken a notice on the issue when the judiciary was dragged into the matter. However, the bench observed that since the judiciary’s involvement had not been proven, the commission was no longer required.
Bokhari said the matter stood between two individuals and it did not involve corruption from the national exchequer. He requested the bench to stop the commission’s proceedings so that whichever party wanted to take whatever legal recourse, they might approach the concerned avenues.
Justice Khilji Arif Hussain said the court was not prejudiced towards any party and accordingly, the people had reposed their confidence in it.
Talking to reporters later, Zahid Bokhari said justice had prevailed, adding that his client had been raising objections over the legality of the commission from day one. He said his client’s objections to the commission’s report had been noted by the court. Bokhari added that the Shoaib Suddle commission had no authority to investigate the funds of Bahria Town.
The commission’s preliminary report, which was shared with the media on Thursday, said Dr Arsalan had admitted before the commission that he had availed two of the three foreign visits claimed by Riaz in a graft case being heard in the Supreme Court.
Dr Arsalan admitted that he had received “favours” from Riaz, his friend or his son-in-law, but the report did not answer why he had accepted these, nor did it explain the businessman’s claim that he had “favoured” Arsalan in order to get court cases settled in his favour.
Earlier on August 30, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, appointed Federal Tax Ombudsman Dr Mohammad Shoaib Suddle as a one man-commission to investigate allegations of a Rs 342 million business deal between Arsalan Iftikhar and Malik Riaz. The commission had been directed to complete the task in a month’s time.
The counsel for Arsalan Iftikhar, Sardar Ishaq, told reporters outside the SC that a decision to file claims of damages against accusers would be made after reviewing the three reports of the commission.
He said the abolishment of the commission would give rise to some new controversy.
Meanwhile Arsalan Iftikhar told reporters that he had submitted a 200-page statement to the commission regarding allegations levelled by Malik Riaz. “I completely presented myself for accountability,” Arsalan said. Arsalan added that he would take legal action against Riaz under defamation law after consulting his legal team and file the “biggest damages case in the history of Pakistan”.
He said Malik Riaz did not pay the expenses for his foreign visits and insisted that he was an honourable citizen. He added that he would make an effort to return to his home now after being exonerated of all charges.