ISLAMABAD, Jan 25: The Supreme Court bench hearing a case related to alleged corruption in the National Insurance Company was informed on Tuesday that Moonis Ellahi, the son of former Punjab chief minister Pervaiz Ellahi, was among the beneficiaries of the scam involving payment of Rs220 million in bribes.

The case pertains to procurement of land on exorbitant by the NICL's former chairman, Ayaz Khan Niazi, which caused a huge loss to the national exchequer.

A four-judge SC bench, comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Muhammad Sair Ali, Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday, was told by the newly-appointed Additional Director General of FIA, Capt (retd) Zafar Ahmed Qureshi, that Abdul Malik, manager of the Allied Bank's Lahore branch, had confessed during interrogation that Rs220 million had been transferred to the accounts of Al Tahoor Company on the identity card of Adil Manzoor, which was later given to Moonis Ellahi.

The court ordered that the ADG should proceed in accordance with the law if the Federal Investigation Agency's director general attempted to protect Amin Qasim Dada, a former director of NICL and an accused in the scam.

Waseem Ahmad, the former chief of Karachi police, at present heads the FIA.

When asked by the court why Amin Dada had not been arrested while other directors of the company were in FIA custody, Capt Zafar said that despite his best efforts he was not allowed to do so.

He said that whenever any person was required from Lahore where he was posted as director, the needful was done. But, he said, when he had gone to Karachi and contacted FIA Karachi Director Moazzam Jah in connection with the arrest of Amin Dada, Mr Jah told him that Amin Dada used to sit with the FIA DG in his camp office and, therefore, could not be arrested. Mr Jah, who was present in the court, conceded that four to five days before the registration of the case and after the court order, Amin Dada was with the FIA director general.

“Be that as it may, the FIA DG is equally responsible for not causing his arrest,” the court said in its order, adding that it appeared that instead of allowing his director to make progress in the case, he (FIA DG) was providing shelter to the accused.

“Therefore, we direct ADG Zafar Qureshi to take all necessary steps to arrest him (Amin Dada). And if on a further probe the ADG comes to the conclusion that the accused is being given shelter by the FIA DG, then he should proceed against the DG too in accordance with the law because no one is above the law,” the order said.

Capt Zafar assured the court that all efforts would be made to find how the government money was taken out of the NICL accounts.