The Supreme Court (SC), on Wednesday, directed National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to arrest Mohsin Habib Warriach within two weeks in a case of alleged National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) scam worth Rs 1.68 billion.
A three-member bench, presided by Justice Gulzar Ahmed, also ordered the bureau to submit its report after following the directives.
The bench also noted that Mohsin had not appeared before the court; sending an adjournment request through his lawyer. Expressing resentment at the corruption watchdog’s lax attitude, in this case, Justice Gulzar remarked, “Mohsin Habib [Warraich] has already appeared before NAB.”
He added, “NAB served him tea and biscuits, and sent him on his way despite court orders to arrest him.”
Justice Hassan observed, “Mohsin Habib fled despite his name being on the Exit Control List,” while Justice Gulzar inquired who could guarantee that he would not leave the country again.
The prosecutor-general asserted that he would seek the record of the accused’s departure from authorities. To which, Justice Ahsan quipped, “There can be no records for fleeing the country on a launch (motorboat).”
The court was briefed about the allegations on the suspect, how he had conspired to sell land at inflated rates. “The other accused, Ayyaz Niazi (former NICL chairman) has been sentenced. Rs4.4 million are left to be recovered from him,” the NAB prosecutor added. The country’s top court is being said to have slapped the corruption watchdog with a deadline after being told that while small criminals were being made example of, bigwigs still had an easy out. The bench adjourned the hearing for two weeks.
Published in Daily Times, March 14th 2019.