ISLAMABAD: A three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry will take up on Monday a petition about recovery of plundered money stashed away in foreign banks allegedly by politicians, retired bureaucrats, members of the armed forces, judges and businessmen.
The petition was filed by PML-Q Senator Mohammad Ali Durrani last month.
Through the petition, the senator has requested the Supreme Court to order constitution of a “Commission of Truth” and devise a strategy for recovery of billions of rupees stashed in foreign banks.
The petition suggests that the proposed commission should comprise retired superior court judges and retired members of civil service whose integrity is beyond any doubt.
The commission, the petition states, will help design a system of transparency, accountability and necessary legal infrastructure for seeking recovery of the money plundered from Pakistan and deposited in banks abroad.
It also seeks a directive from the court requiring the government to enter into agreements/laws of mutual assistance to unearth and quantify money laundered from Pakistan and deposited in “safe haven countries”.
The terms “safe haven countries”, according to the petition, means Switzerland, the US, the UK, Germany, France, Canada, Spain, South Korea, Malaysia and the UAE.
Such a system, according to the petition, will help save Pakistan from financial bankruptcy and free it from the clutches of international financial institutions, like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Band and the Asian Development Bank.
The federal government, through establishment and defence secretaries, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Swiss Bankers Association, the Stolen Assets Recovery (StAR) Initiative, Global Financial Integrity USA, Transparency International, Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), PML-Q, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Awami National Party (ANP), Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F), Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) and Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) and ambassadors of Switzerland, the US, the UK, Canada, Germany, France, Spain, South Korea, Malaysia and the UAE have been made respondents in the petition.
The petition also asks the Supreme Court to request the UN secretary general to initiate an investigation under the machinery designed by the UN known as Stolen Assets Recovery (StAR) Initiative to unearth the stolen money.
Various countries should also be requested to find out the money so laundered and kept in their banks and devise a strategy for its repatriation to Pakistan.
Likewise, the petition says, the ECP should be asked to determine whether assets declared by lawmakers are commensurate with legal or illegal means. Furthermore, the ECP should be directed to ask parliamentarians to furnish details of assets held by them in foreign countries.
The petition says that PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, PML-N President Nawaz Sharif, PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, MQM leader Farooq Sattar, ANP President Asfandyar Wali, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, JI chief Syed Munawar Hassan and PTI chairman Imran Khan should be directed to furnish lists of cash and assets held by them in bank accounts as well as properties purchased by members and office-bearers of their parties outside Pakistan.
PML-Q Senator Mohammad Ali Durrani in a statement issued here on Sunday gave reasons for filing the petition and termed 2012 the year of recovery of all money “looted and transferred to foreign banks in unnamed accounts” through money laundering.
Mr Durrani, who served as the information minister in the regime of Gen Pervez Musharraf, said those countries which always asked Pakistan “to do more” would now have to play their part in the recovery of Pakistan’s looted wealth under international laws. He said the recovery of the stolen wealth would help the country break shackles of foreign slavery.
He alleged that around $500 billion looted from Pakistan had been kept in unnamed bank accounts in safe heavens of the West and also in the shape of unnamed properties being operated upon through agents and front-men of corrupt Pakistani politicians and civil and military bureaucrats and businessmen.
“Ten countries have recovered their looted money under the StAR initiative while India has started a process to recover its money. Now it is up to the PPP-led coalition government to adopt procedures for recovery of the stolen national wealth if it is sincere in its commitment to the country, its people and its voters,” Senator Durrani said.
“Leading world powers have issued red warrants for those who were involved in corrupt practices.”
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