ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Wednesday informed the Supreme Court that the $60 million money laundering case against former president Asif Ali Zardari before the Swiss courts cannot be reopened since Pakistan’s appeal is time-barred.

The accountability watchdog also contended before the apex court that no exact quantum of loss was available allegedly due to misappropriation of the public money through unlawful means.

The reply, which was furnished on behalf of Special NAB Prosecutor Chaudhry Mohammad Faridul Hassan, came in response to a petition moved by Advocate Feroz Shah Gilani, president of the Lawyers Foundation for Justice, in which he had named former president retired Gen Pervez Musharraf, former attorney general Malik Mohammad Qayyum and former president Asif Ali Zardari and NAB as respondents.

NAB says no exact quantum of loss is available due to misappropriation of public money

In his petition, Mr Gilani had pleaded before the court to order recovery of huge amounts of public money wasted by the respondents through unlawful means against the backdrop of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) in 2007.

In its reply, NAB however assured the court that if any determination was made as to the quantum of money misappropriated, the same will be implemented, honoured and adhered in letter and spirit.

About the role of Malik Qayyum, NAB explained that an inquiry was conducted into the role of the former AG, the outcome of which reflected that prima facie he did not commit any offence or misused authority.

NAB, therefore, had to close its inquiry on Sept 17, 2012, against Malik Qayyum when it was found that whatever he did was in accordance with the existing law of the time i.e. the National Accountability Ordinance.

The bureau also explained that a number of corruption references, including ARY Gold case, Ursus Tractor Scheme case, pre-shipment inspection contract to Cotecna firm, pre-shipment inspection contract to SGS firm and assets case, were still pending in different courts against Mr Zardari.

But in his reply, Mr Zardari had contended that no case of causing loss to the public exchequer or looting and plundering the national wealth had ever been proved against him in Pakistan or abroad.

Likewise, Mr Zardari said, he had no role in the promulgation of the NRO because he was in jail when it was introduced. Cases against him were reopened when the NRO was set aside by the Supreme Court in 2007 and all the cases were tried de-novo which resulted in his acquittal on merit, Mr Zardari had contended.

On the other hand, Mr Musharraf in his reply pleaded that the NRO was promulgated in 2007 without having any mala fide or vested interest with an objective to end acrimony between different political parties and political conditions prevailing then.

He also contended that the NRO 2007 was promulgated by him as the then president on the advice of the government which was later declared by the apex court as void ab initio through its judgement in December 2009.

Mr Musharraf argued that the NRO was aimed at fostering mutual trust and confidence amongst the holders of public office and remove the vestiges of political vendetta and victimisation and to make election process more transparent and to amend certain laws in addition to ancillary connected matters.

In his petition, Mr Gilani had contended that Mr Musharraf subverted the Constitution by declaring emergency, followed by the promulgation of the NRO, arbitrarily withdrawing criminal and corruption cases against the politicians, including Mr Zardari, which caused a huge financial loss to the exchequer.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2018