SC summons details of Zardari, Musharraf’s foreign assets in NRO case

• Court asks former presidents to declare foreign assets, bank accounts and offshore companies

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday summoned the foreign assets’ details of former presidents Asif Ali Zardari and General (r) Pervez Musharraf in the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) case.

The NRO— passed by Musharraf in 2007— granted amnesty to politicians and other individuals by quashing various corruption and criminal cases against them.

The three-member bench — comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar, Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Ijazul Ahsan — was hearing a petition moved by the president of Lawyers Foundation for Justice, Advocate Feroz Shah Gilani, for the recovery of losses Pakistan had incurred after the promulgation of the NRO.

As the hearing went underway, Justice Nisar sought the details of foreign assets of Zardari and Musharraf, as well as those of former attorney general Justice (r) Malik Qayyum.

Directing the respondents to submit affidavits in court, along with details of their personal foreign assets, those of their children, foreign bank accounts and any offshore companies, Chief Justice Nisar observed that the top court needs to be taken into confidence regarding the ownership of foreign accounts and assets.

When asked when Zardari and Qayyum would submit their asset details, Farooq H Naek, who was reportedly among the drafters of the NRO, responded that the PPP leader has already submitted his reply.

The court gave Musharraf two weeks to submit his reply in the case.

The chief justice remarked that respondents should take the apex court into confidence as to whether they have assets abroad. “What is the issue in taking the Supreme Court into confidence?”

Those who think they will not be caught will be found and apprehended, warned the top judge, adding that a lot of work still needs to be done. “We need to root out corruption and create dams.”

Justice Nisar also said that a lot of people were benefiting from the ongoing amnesty scheme but was reminded by Naek that it was not applicable to politicians.

Qayyum and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) also submitted their replies in the court during the proceedings.

Last month, Asif Ali Zardari had requested the top court to dismiss a petition seeking recovery of the losses Pakistan incurred after the promulgation of the NRO in 2007.

In his reply to the petition in the SC, Zardari had submitted that the appeal was a politically motivated attempt to malign him and the PPP.

The PPP co-chairperson had claimed to have suffered “political victimisation and mudslinging throughout the course of the history”. The statement had said he was made target of political vendetta and vengeance and served at least 11 years in jail and has “faith in the independence of judiciary and justice system of Pakistan”.

The reply had stressed that Zardari was acquitted in all cases.

Explaining the circumstances behind NRO, Zardari had said in 2007 “certain political elements realised that politically motivated cases existed against politicians and it was in no one’s benefit to continue with their prosecution”.

PETITION:

Petitioner Feroz Shah Gilani in April this year had requested the court to order recovery of “huge amounts of public money” misappropriated and wasted by them [respondents] through unlawful means “already on record in different judgments of the Supreme Court and high court”.