NAB files review petition in SC against Khawaja brothers’ bail

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Wednesday file a review appeal in the Supreme Court challenging the bail granted to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leaders Khawaja Saad Rafique and his brother Khawaja Salman Rafique, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

The anti-graft watchdog pleaded that the apex court must take back the July 20 verdict about the bail granted to PML-N leaders, the TV channel reported.

The NAB moved the Supreme Court to remove paragraph numbers 18, 48, 56 and 70 from the judgment.

On July 20, the Supreme Court issued a detailed verdict in PML-N leaders Khawaja Saad Rafique and Khawaja Salman Rafique bail pertaining to Paragon Housing Scheme case framed by National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

The verdict said that purely civil disputes of financial or commercial nature between the company and private individuals, pending before the civil courts, were made the subject matter of the reference, portraying those as cases of illegal occupation of lands.

Justice Maqbool Baqar and Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel wrote the verdict. Justice Maqbool Baqar started the his judgment with quote of John Stuart Mill, “A state which dwarfs its men, in order that they may be more docile instruments in its hands even for beneficial purposes--- will find that with small men no great thing can really be accomplished”

Justice Maqbool Baqir while giving reasons said that pattern of the questions put to the petitioners (Khawaja brothers), their vagueness, frivolity and irrelevance showed that the NAB had no inkling in the matter.

He said that NAB could not even build upon information and record provided by the petitioners in response to their queries, and also did not find any lacuna, fault, inaccuracy, inconsistency or inadequacy in such information. “NAB also could not raise any formidable objection regarding the conduct of the petitioners in the matter,” the verdict stated.

MYSTERY AS TO WHAT PROMPTED NAB INTO ACTION

The judgment said: “The position that emerges from the facts and circumstances of the case narrated and the material placed before us, is that it remains a mystery as to what prompted the NAB into action in this case. It seems that except for what QAB (Qaiser Amin Butt) may have allegedly told the NAB after his arrest on 14.11.2018, there was absolutely no word or material attributing to the petitioners any control over the affairs/management of the company,” the judgment reads.