ISLAMABAD: The Islam­abad High Court (IHC) on Monday issued notice to Nat­ional Accountability Bur­eau (NAB) Chairman Javed Iqbal on a petition seeking contempt of court proceedings against him for not acting against former military ruler Pervez Musharraf for his alleged corruption during his tenure as the country’s president.

The IHC division bench comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan hea­rd the petition moved by ret­ired Lt Col Inamur Rahim.

The petitioner pointed out that the bureau did not probe the ex-president for corruption charges despite the IHC’s unambiguous order of Jan 25, 2018.

Read more: NAB told to investigate Musharraf over graft

The IHC through the jud­g­ement had cleared the amb­i­guity in the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) of 1999 for which the anti-corruption watchdog always took excuse to pro­ceed against retired army officers despite compl­aints of massive corruption.

The petitioner argued that the IHC had declared that Mr Musharraf, being a public office holder, could be probed for alleged corruption.

Justice Minallah inquired from the petitioner as to whether the Jan 25, 2018 order was challenged by the bureau. The petitioner replied in the negative and said that the order had attained finality.

Subsequently, the court adjourned the matter till Feb 14 and sought a report from the NAB chairman on this matter.

In his complaint filed some nine years ago, Mr Rahim, also an advocate, had asked the NAB to hold an inquiry into the allegation that the retired general in his nomination papers had declared assets ‘beyond his known sources of income’. In a 2013 letter, the bureau informed Mr Rahim that his complaint could not be entertained for want of jurisdiction because Mr Musharraf as a member of the armed forces was immune from proceedings under the NAO.

However, the court in its landmark judgement issued in February after its Jan 25, 2018 order, ruled: “The bureau is vested with the power and jurisdiction to consider the complaint of the petitioner and after such consideration if it is of the opinion that an offence under the Ordinance of 1999 is prima facie made out, then it will become a duty of the latter to proceed to inquire, investigate and take all other steps mandated under the Ordinance of 1999.”

The petitioner also argued Mr Musharraf, as the chief of the army staff and the country’s president, violated his oath of defending the country and protecting its citizens.

According to the complaint, the former military ruler distributed thousands of acres land among the senior hierarchy of military to win their support after assuming power in a bloodless coup of October 1999.

The complaint alleged that in order to convert 18 acres of land for Cricket Stadium in Karachi into a residential housing scheme for army’s top brass, Gen Musharraf appointed Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Lt-Gen Tauqeer Zia and he consented on development of the housing scheme on the land meant for sports activities.

The petitioner also alleged that Gen Musharraf “injected corruption into the senior hierarchy of the armed forces by allotting them plots over and above their entitlements”.

In the contempt plea, the petitioner stated that Mr Musharraf illegally disposed of thousands of acres of precious lands situated in different cantonments, violating the rules and regulations in this regard. In the Karachi cantonment alone, some 2,125 acres were disposed and the petitioner later provided its details to the accountability bureau.

Besides, a list was also forwarded to NAB about the properties worth billions of rupees allegedly grabbed by Mr Musharraf, retired Lt Col Rahim stated, adding that those properties had never been disclosed by the former general earlier as he neither submitted his income tax returns nor paid any tax during his tenure as per a Federal Board of Revenue’s report issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan.

The petitioner also referred to a page in Musharraf’s book, In the Line of Fire, and its chapter titled ‘Man Hunt’ to corroborate the allegation that the former military ruler had handed over many people to the United States to make money.

Published in Dawn, February 1st, 2022