Get back to business, SC tells NAB

Rejecting a plea by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for pending investigation into the multi-billion Rental Power Project scam, the Supreme Court on Wednesday fixed January 29 to hear the case and took suo motu notice of the mysterious death of Kamran Faisal, the NAB official investigating the mega corruption scandal.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry expressed annoyance with NAB’s progress in RPPs scam and its non-serious attitude regarding the probe into the death of Kamran Faisal. The court constituted a two-member bench to separately hear Faisal’s death case.
The bench will be headed by Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and will hear the case today (Thursday).
During the course of RPPs hearing, the chief justice read a note submitted by the SC Registrar Office, in which it was mentioned that family members and colleagues of the deceased were not expecting a fair and honest investigation into Faisal’s mysterious death.
After reading the note, the chief justice changed it into a suo motu case and constituted a new bench to hear the case separately. In his remarks, the CJ said the court could not ignore Faisal’s death.
At the onset of the hearing, the court did not allow NAB Chairman Fasih Bokhari to address the court. Prosecutor General KK Agha briefed the court after getting instructions from the NAB chairman. The chief justice asked the NAB prosecutor what steps had the bureau taken so far to probe the death — whether any FIR had been registered. To this, the prosecutor said a judicial commission had been constituted to probe into the death, while police was also investigating the matter.
The chief justice asked if an official notification of the judicial commission had been issued, to which NAB’s counsel said it would be issued today (Thursday).
“The FIR has not been registered, the official notification of the judicial commission tasked with probing the death has not been issued. Mr Prosecutor, five days have passed since the death of Kaman Faisal. And upon the questioning of the court, you are saying that the government would issue a notification on Thursday,” the CJ said.
KK Agha objected to the registrar’s note, saying it was based on news stories and pleaded that NAB be allowed to suspend further investigation into the RPPs scam until the matter of Faisal’s death was resolved.
The NAB prosecutor contended that after Faisal’s death, other investigation officers could not continue their work in a hostile environment.
To this, the chief justice said the court could not ignore the tragic incident. “I have no right to sit on the seat of the chief justice if I am not willing to discharge my duty under certain circumstances,” the chief justice told the prosecutor.
The prosecutor said NAB was performing well to recover embezzled money, adding that NAB’s performance and credibility could not be undermined.
Justice Azmat Saeed said with Faisal’s death, NAB had lost its credibility.
“It’s not just the death of Kamran Faisal, but also that of NAB’s credibility,” he remarked, asking what kind of respect NAB had earned from the tragic incident and unnecessarily delaying implementation of court orders in the RPPs case.
The court ordered NAB to continue the investigation in the RPPs scam in light of judgment passed on March 30, 2012. The court fixed January 29 to hear the RPPs case and issues relating to the implementation of the judgment passed on March 30, 2012. Former federal minister Faisal Saleh Hayat, who is also a petitioner in the rental power case, requested the court to order an independent enquiry into the case, as the matter was important for having Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf named in it.
He said Faisal was the first martyr of the RPPs case and he did not know how many sacrifices would be rendered in the future.
PML-N leader Khwaja Asif was also present in the court. He told the court that on Friday, when Faisal was found dead in his room, NAB officials kept the deceased’s room under their watch, apparently to remove evidence, and then informed the police of the incident. He said this act of NAB officials raised many questions.
In its short order the court observed: “This shocking incident of his (Kamran Faisal) murder/death/suicide is a sad commentary on the image of a public institution, which is supposed to be functioning in a free, fair and independent manner, without being influenced or coursed by anyone. Prima facie, it seems that besides the colleagues of Kamran Faisal (deceased), his family members as well as the public at large have shown annoyance and raised grievance. According to their versions, they are not expecting a free, fair and honest investigation because of the involvement of highly influential political persons and executive authorities of this country in the scam of RPPs.” The court further observed that it was a fundamental right of all citizens that their lives and properties be protected by the State, particularly of those people who honestly discharged their functions in order to investigate the allegations against the accused involved in cases of corruption and the corrupt practices.
The court observed that the registrar’s office had submitted a detailed report based on material inter-alia stating therein that Kamran Faisal (deceased), NAB assistant director, engaged in the investigation of the high-profile case of RPPs was found mysteriously dead in his room at the Federal Lodges, Islamabad on Friday i.e. 18.1.2013… Therefore, the court treats this note as a constitution petition under Article 184(3) of the constitution of Pakistan.”