A three-member SC bench, headed by Justice Dost Muhammad Khan and comprising Justice Qazi Faiz Isa and Justice Faisal Arab, ordered the NAB to produce record of plea bargain given to Mushtaq Ahmed Raisani back in December while presiding over the bail petition of Khalid Lango, ex finance advisor to Balochistan chief minister and two others.
It is pertinent to mention here that more than Rs 65 crore, 3 kg gold, expensive mansions in Karachi and Mercedes cars were recovered from him in a raid last May.
Justice Faiz Isa asked under what law the plea bargain was granted, he asked when NAB counsel said that decision was reached on the ‘facts and circumstances’ of the case. The bench also asked that by what reasoning the plea bargain was finalized.
It is pertinent to mention here that Article 25 of NAB Ordinance of 1999 deals with voluntary return and plea bargain. 25 (a) deals with holder of public office who voluntarily comes forward and offers to return the assets and gains, while 25 (b) deals with accused offering to return the assets or gains acquired or made by him to the NAB before or after the commencement of the trial or during the pendency of the an appeal. Finally, 25 (c) deals with the transfer of amount to the federal and provincial governments deposited by the accused with the NAB.
The bench also raised the issue of money seized by NAB during the raid and asked NAB to furnish a copy of the video to the bench.
Back in the days of Chief Justice Javed S Khwaja, he asked NAB to submit a copy of mega corruption cases involving more than Rs 50 crore under investigation by NAB. Despite the fact that NAB submitted the list of around 180 cases to the Supreme Court, no further hearings were held by SC since January 2016.
