ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Thursday submitted an application to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar seeking the formation of a larger bench to hear its review petition against the Supreme Court’s (SC) judgement on Hudaibiya Papers Mill scam.
The application states, “That in order to resolve this anomaly, it would be just and proper to constitute a larger bench consisting of seven Hon’ble Members of this Court for the hearing of this civil review petition.”
NAB argued that Hudaibiya Papers Mill has direct ‘nexus’ with Panama Paper scandal PLD 2017 SC 256. In the application, the bureau said that two benches have expressed different views on the matter, and the formation of a larger bench will be able to reconcile and decide on the matter.
The accountability watchdog also mentioned events in the past when larger benches have been constituted to hear review petitions.
In December, the Supreme Court dismissed NAB’s appeal to reopen Hudabiya Paper Mills case – known as the mother of all corruption cases against Sharifs – by declaring it not maintainable.
A three-judge bench – comprising Justice Mushir Alam, Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel – rejected NAB’s appeal against the order of a division bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC), which in 2014 had quashed the graft reference.
Though the 17-year-old Hudabiya Paper Mills case had been in the headlines for the last one year, the three-member bench took only four hearings to conclude that the case could not be reopened and that it was a case of ‘income tax’ rather than ‘money laundering’. A written order would be released later on, detailing the bench’s reasons for its decision, the bench observed
