–CJP says court has received asset details of former presidents Musharraf and Zardari and ex-AGP Malik Qayyum
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday disposed of a petition seeking the re-opening of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) case indicting former presidents Pervez Musharraf and Asif Ali Zardari and former attorney general of Pakistan (AGP) Malik Mohammad Qayyum.
In November, the top court had sought a written reply from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the attorney general on the maintainability of the case, observing that the court will decide its fate after receiving a reply from both.
During the hearing, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar remarked that the court has received asset details of the three accused.
When asked, Justice Nisar was told that the petitioner is ill. Claiming that much progress has been made in the Omni Group case pertaining to money laundering, he asserted that “the law will soon make its own way”.
Then, the petition was dismissed.
It is worth mentioning here that the controversial ordinance, issued by Gen (r) Musharraf granted amnesty to politicians, political workers and bureaucrats accused of corruption and terrorism between January 1, 1986, and October 12, 1999, was declared unconstitutional by SC in December 2009. The former attorney general of Pakistan in 2008 wrote a letter to Swiss authorities seeking withdrawal of all corruption cases against Asif Zardari.
Feroz Shah Gillani had filed a petition in the court in April to recover ‘huge amounts of public money’ allegedly misappropriated by Musharraf and Zardari.
Gillani had argued that with the declaration of emergency and passing of the NRO, the constitution was subverted and all criminal and corruption cases against politicians were “arbitrarily withdrawn”. Whereas, Musharraf left in March 2016 for Dubai to “seek medical treatment” and hasn’t returned to the country since.
