ISLAMABAD: A Supreme Court bench dropped on Friday its insistence that Narcotics Control Division Secretary Tariq Masood Khosa should head a team investigating the Rs9 billion Bank of Punjab loan scam, but said the charge must be given to an honest and experienced officer.
The three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, hearing a petition of the bank against Haris Steel Mills rejected a perception about a standoff between the executive and judiciary and said the present system would continue to function and nothing bad would happen to it.
“The impression in the media about confrontation should end now. We have no score to settle,” the chief justice observed. He said the court’s only concern was to ensure transparency in all walks of life and that was bound to come.
At the last hearing, the court had ordered NAB Chairman Nawid Ahsan to requisition the services of Mr Khosa from the establishment secretary to head the investigation team. On Friday, NAB’s Deputy Prosecutor General Raja Amir Abbas presented two letters sent by the establishment division to NAB, citing reasons for not relieving the services of Mr Khosa because he was doing a sensitive job.
The letters also said that all postings, transfers and assignments of different duties and jobs for officers in BS-21 and 22 were made by the prime minister on recommendations of the establishment division.
“The prime minister has also ordered the establishment division to propose a panel of officers of integrity, experience and good repute for the purpose of investigation to assist the NAB authorities in this case,” the letters said.
The establishment division proposed three names — Additional Joint Secretary of Finance Aftab Sultan, Karachi police chief Waseem Ahmed Khan and Additional Chief Secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Fayyaz Ahmed — to head the probe team.
The court in its order said it had nothing against any of the three officers or had any love, but since they were not known the NAB chairman in consultation with Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq and Tariq Khosa would recommend a police officer in a transparent manner, ensuring that there was not the slightest doubt about the nominee’s integrity and experience in view of the sensitivity of the matter.
Justice Ghulam Rabbani said: “In a country which is like a mother to us, honest people should be encouraged to come forward and take the front seat, but it is only possible if merit is adhered to strictly.”
Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday said he feared an anarchy-like situation in the country if court orders were ignored at the highest level, adding that such a situation would give rise to disregard of the law at the lowest possible level.
The judge said that intellectuals who took a critical view of the court’s power in discussions on the electronic media should have the courage to come before the court and make suggestions about its authority. “This is our country. We have to live here and die here and do not have green cards or property abroad,” Justice Ramday said.
The hearing was adjourned till June 16.
The three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, hearing a petition of the bank against Haris Steel Mills rejected a perception about a standoff between the executive and judiciary and said the present system would continue to function and nothing bad would happen to it.
“The impression in the media about confrontation should end now. We have no score to settle,” the chief justice observed. He said the court’s only concern was to ensure transparency in all walks of life and that was bound to come.
At the last hearing, the court had ordered NAB Chairman Nawid Ahsan to requisition the services of Mr Khosa from the establishment secretary to head the investigation team. On Friday, NAB’s Deputy Prosecutor General Raja Amir Abbas presented two letters sent by the establishment division to NAB, citing reasons for not relieving the services of Mr Khosa because he was doing a sensitive job.
The letters also said that all postings, transfers and assignments of different duties and jobs for officers in BS-21 and 22 were made by the prime minister on recommendations of the establishment division.
“The prime minister has also ordered the establishment division to propose a panel of officers of integrity, experience and good repute for the purpose of investigation to assist the NAB authorities in this case,” the letters said.
The establishment division proposed three names — Additional Joint Secretary of Finance Aftab Sultan, Karachi police chief Waseem Ahmed Khan and Additional Chief Secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Fayyaz Ahmed — to head the probe team.
The court in its order said it had nothing against any of the three officers or had any love, but since they were not known the NAB chairman in consultation with Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq and Tariq Khosa would recommend a police officer in a transparent manner, ensuring that there was not the slightest doubt about the nominee’s integrity and experience in view of the sensitivity of the matter.
Justice Ghulam Rabbani said: “In a country which is like a mother to us, honest people should be encouraged to come forward and take the front seat, but it is only possible if merit is adhered to strictly.”
Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday said he feared an anarchy-like situation in the country if court orders were ignored at the highest level, adding that such a situation would give rise to disregard of the law at the lowest possible level.
The judge said that intellectuals who took a critical view of the court’s power in discussions on the electronic media should have the courage to come before the court and make suggestions about its authority. “This is our country. We have to live here and die here and do not have green cards or property abroad,” Justice Ramday said.
The hearing was adjourned till June 16.
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