Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) informed the Supreme Court (SC) that a total of Rs 2,021.993 million – recovered under the plea-bargain and voluntary return of ill-gotten money from civil servants currently serving in different parts of country – has been deposited in the government coffers.

According to the NAB, 33 public servants serving in Lahore opted for voluntary return of the embezzled amount and deposited Rs 55.275 million, while six public servants from Multan deposited Rs 8.52 million. As many as 74 public servants from Rawalpindi also deposited an amount of Rs 156.077 million, the bureau said.

Similarly, NAB officials said that Rs 743.070 million had been deposited by 374 public servants working in Karachi, while an amount of Rs 171.442 million was recovered from 62 public servants of Balochistan under the offer for voluntary return of the money. They said that 92 public servants of Sukkur also deposited an amount of Rs 241.629 million.

The NAB further informed the Supreme Court that Rs 645.980 million had been recovered from 943 public servants of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) under the same offer. It said that a total of 1,584 public servants entered into the plea bargain.

It also submitted in the apex court a list of 354 inquiries, 141 investigations and 513 references involving an amount of less than Rs 100 million.

The 354 inquiries also include 119 in Lahore, six in Multan, 24 in Rawalpindi, 97 in KP, 33 in Balochistan and 44 in Sukkur.

The court was informed that 513 references were filed, including 189 from Lahore, 18 from Multan, 43 from Rawalpindi, 65 from KP, 78 from Balochistan and 26 from Sukkur.

The officials further said that 78 references from Balochistan also included 13 references ordered to be kept dormant until the arrest of the accused persons.

The bureau submitted its report following a suo motu case to examine the vires of Section 25 of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999, which states the provisions of the voluntary return (VR) scheme.

On September 8, Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali took the suo motu on a note of the Supreme Court (SC) registrar containing observations of a two-judge bench who passed an order in an accountability-related case at the SC’s Karachi Registry.

The note stated that it had been observed by the court (Karachi Registry) that the provisions of Section 25(a), prima facie, is in conflict with the provisions of the constitution; therefore, the vires of this provision needed to be examined.

A three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, on Wednesday took up the case. Law officer Rana Waqar informed the bench that the attorney general of Pakistan (AGP) was in Washington for resolving the issue of Indus Water.

The CJP, however, expressed displeasure over the absence of the AGP and observed that whenever the matter of public importance comes before the court, the AGP goes abroad.

The law officer further informed the court that a committee had been constituted for examining and revising the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999.

Justice Amir Hani Muslim, another member of the bench, asked whether the inquiries had been conducted against those who availed the VR scheme, adding whether the law permitted them to hold office afterwards. The law officer informed that inquiries could not be initiated against those entered the plea bargain as per the initial report of the Establishment Division.

Another law officer appearing on behalf of the Punjab government told the court that the province had taken action against those who opted for the VR scheme. However, law officers of other provinces asked for time to submit concise statements along with details on the issue.

Accepting the request, the court adjourned the hearing until October 24, with ruling that no further requests of adjournment would be entertained.