ISLAMABAD: About five years ago, a corruption case involving Rs82 billion was in the headlines.

As a story, it just couldn’t get better. Both PPP-nominated prime ministers were accused of involvement. The main accused, a former chairman of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), fled the country, but was brought back to Pakistan under pressure from the dogged pursuance of the case by the Supreme Court.

Two years later, in 2013, the trial commenced in the accountability court.

However, the case is still far from reaching any logical end. Ask those involved and it seems the case is so ‘complicated’ that it still needs more time; critics say this complication is “due to the ‘over-excitement’ of the investigation officer”.

This is why, both sides point out, that not a single witness out of the over 90 prosecution witnesses has been examined by the trial court so far.

Eleven people, including former prime ministers Raja Pervez Ashraf and Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani were accused in the case.

The Ogra corruption case came into the limelight in 2011 when an executive director of the authority challenged the appointment of Tauqeer Sadiq as chairman.

On Nov 25, 2012, the apex court struck down the appointment of Sadiq, who then fled to the UAE.

He went abroad secretly, perhaps panicked by the happenings in the courtroom, where the bench had been told that Sadiq was a close relative of PPP leader Jahangir Badar and was allegedly appointed in an illegal manner.

Besides his ‘controversial’ appointment, Sadiq was also facing allegations of causing Rs82 billion in losses to the public exchequer. However, he was apprehended in Dubai and then extradited to Pakistan in July 2013.

NAB filed two references: one relating to the illegal appointment of Sadiq as Ogra chairman in 2009, and another relating to corruption and irregularities in the organisation during his tenure. These references were filed in the accountability court in 2013, while the Supreme Court was also hearing the matter.

Sadiq is accused of making illegal appointments in Ogra; manipulating the share prices of gas distribution companies; increasing the benchmark of the unaccounted-for-gas (UFG); allowing new CNG stations and relocating existing filling stations.

Insiders blame untrained investigation officer; both sides accuse each other of delaying proceedings

According to the charge sheet issued by the accountability court, Sadiq is accused of manipulating the market to raise the share prices cost of Sui Northern (SNGPL) and Sui Southern (SSGC) from Rs19 to Rs45, before they fell back to the original price. It was alleged that he was in touch with some investors who purchased the shares before the rise in price and made a killing.

Similarly, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) accuses Tauqeer Sadiq of having issued over 500 licenses for CNG stations in exchange for Rs300,000 each.

NAB investigators say that by increasing the benchmark of UFG from 5pc to 7pc (a tax charged to gas consumers) – while consumers had to cough up the money – he increased the profit of the gas distribution companies, but reduced federal government taxes. The UFG is, in fact, the loss the system suffers on account of leakages or gas theft.

Three years after NAB filed the references against Sadiq, proceedings haven’t moved beyond the initial stages. The only witness currently being examined is Mohammad Yasin, an executive director, who was also the petitioner against Sadiq before the Supreme Court

From an audit point of view, the safe limit for UFG is less than 5pc. This means that 5pc gas was being wasted and the Sadiq-led Ogra justified the wastage of another 2pc. UFG reflects negligence on the part of the distribution companies, which can be reduced by removing illegal connections, overcoming leakages and introducing an efficient recovery mechanism. This why audit authorities show UFG as system losses in their books and any increase in the UFG benchmark multiplies losses.

On Mar 12, 2014, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) granted bail to Sadiq against two surety bonds worth Rs1 million each – he is free at the moment.

But three years after NAB filed the references against Sadiq, proceedings haven’t moved beyond the initial stages. The only witness currently being examined is Mohammad Yasin, an executive director, who was also the petitioner against Sadiq before the Supreme Court.

A former deputy prosecutor general of NAB, who had dealt with the Ogra corruption case, told Dawn that the investigation officer was not well-trained and had complicated the case unnecessarily.

“This is NAB’s dilemma with most of its investigation officers, who are not well-trained enough to investigate the high-profile cases they are assigned,” he said.

According to him, the inexperienced investigation officers are influenced by the remarks of judges and the orders of their superiors.

Referring to the Ogra corruption case, he said that it was difficult to prove that Sadiq had embezzled Rs82 billion. According to the NAB official, the main chunk of the alleged amount is derived from the increase in the UFG benchmark. But Arshad Tabrez, a defence counsel in the Ogra corruption reference, claimed that the investigation agency had relied upon hearsay evidence and lacked tangible evidence to prove the alleged embezzlement.

Amjad Iqbal Qureshi, who represents former premiers Ashraf and Gillani in the case, claimed that the corruption case was “politically-motivated”.

He admitted that there might be some irregularities in Sadiq’s appointment, but it could not be termed illegal. He also claimed that since their evidence was weak, the prosecution was not interested in expediting the case.

But Mohammad Yasin, the petitioner in the case against Sadiq before the Supreme Court, believes that the evidence against the accused is solid.

In his view, the accused are causing the delay. “The accountability court holds proceedings at regular intervals, but the accused keep changing their lawyers,” he said.

Echoing the view that the case is “complicated”, NAB Director General Zahir Shah said it took several months to indict the accused because Sadiq and another suspect had gone missing.

He said that the testimony of the first witness was taking time as he is being cross-examined by the lawyers of all 11 accused.

“Being an executive director at Ogra and the petitioner in the Tauqeer Sadiq appointment case, he is a star witness. As a result, each lawyer is taking time with the cross examination.”

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2016