Tauqir Sadiq case: SC expresses serious concern over PM's order
12 February, 2013
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has expressed serious concern over the prime minister's direction to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to update him about its fortnightly progress reports about the developments of the case related to the illegal appointment of former OGRA chairman Tauqir Sadiq.
The court was informed that the prime minister has asked the NAB, through the Cabinet Division, to inform him about the directions of the apex court till the closure of the Tauqir Sadiq case. The court has noted that the letter which has been issued by the Cabinet Division is alarming because, prima facie, it shows interference in the functioning and status of NAB as an independent investigator and prosecutor.
It also directed NAB to act with alacrity and independently of the government, the Cabinet Division or the prime minister. A two-member bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, has noted that a letter dated January 11, 2013, has been brought to its notice. According to it, the prime minister has directed NAB to keep the cabinet and establishment divisions updated on the case and further directions of the apex court by submitting fortnightly progress reports about the developments till the closure of the case.
The court observed that the letter amounts to interference in the independent working of NAB, particularly so considering that the prime minister may himself be, prima facie, implicated in the unlawful appointment of Tauqir Sadiq as OGRA chairman.
To court noted that "what is of serious concern to us is that the said letter appears to have been received one month ago by the chairman, NAB whose initials appear on the letter, but thereafter, as stated by Mr KK Agha, prosecutor general NAB, the letter was never marked or even shown to him and he was totally unaware of the existence of the said letter until it was referred to in court by the learned amicus curiae."
The court expressed surprise that the letter had not been responded to as yet and nor had the Cabinet Secretariat been informed of the independent status of NAB as an investigating agency.
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