Supreme Court on Friday directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to inform the apex court whether Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was conditionally or unconditionally pardoned in Rs1.2 billion Hudaibiya Paper Mills scam.
The direction by the top court’s five-judge bench, which is hearing a myriad of petitions against the Sharif family over the Panama Papers scandal, came after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) filed a petition seeking the disqualification of Dar over alleged money laundering.
Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, who is heading the bench, questioned why the anti-corruption watchdog had failed to file a reference against a Lahore High Court verdict quashing the Hudaibiya Paper Mills case against the Sharifs.
The NAB chairman, who is appointed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the leader of the opposition, did not appeal the judgement, Justice Khosa observed. The judge said the LHC verdict was based on Dar’s pardon. “We have to see whether he was pardoned conditionally or unconditionally,” Justice Khosa observed.
If pardon was granted to the finance minister before his confession statement then it would be considered as the statement of accused, Justice Khosa said. He, however, added that if the pardon was granted after the confession then it would be considered as the statement of prosecution witness.
The larger bench observed that the Rs1.2 billion scam against the Sharif family was still unaccounted for.