May 24, 2003	Saturday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 21,1424

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ISLAMABAD, May 23: The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Accountability Court to conduct hearing on a daily basis in the Mansurul Haq case in which the ex-naval chief is facing corruption charges, and complete it within a month.

If the court failed to complete the case within one month, the ex-naval chief would be entitled to again approach the Supreme Court for the grant of bail.

He was brought from the United States where he was hiding after stashing away money in foreign banks which he had accumulated from defence deals.

He came out of jail after paying US $7.5 million. His co-accused, Amir Lodhi, is still an absconder. According to the NAB officials, he is staying in France with which Pakistan has not signed an extradition treaty.

When arrested by NAB for the second time, Mansurul Haq approached the Supreme Court, through Advocate Akram Shaikh, complaining that he was being mistreated as he had made payment and it was agreed that he would not be arrested again. The petitioners’ counsel had stated that at the time his client was entering into a plea bargain, NAB counsel had made a statement before the accountability court that no inquiry was pending against him.

The NAB, however, refuted the claim. The NAB counsel Baseer Qureshi had stated before the court that the petitioner had entered into a “plea bargain” with the NAB, and it was written in the same document that if the government got hold of further evidence of his corruption by misusing his office, it would be free to recover that amount by following the judicial process.

The NAB has accused Mansurul Haq that he, in his capacity as naval chief and adviser to PM on maritime affairs, misused his position and got ships purchased on the exorbitant prices, causing a loss of US $17 million.

The SC bench consisted of Chief Justice Shaikh Riaz Ahmad, Justice Mian Mohammad Ajmal and Justice Mohammad Nawaz Abbasi.

The petitioner, however, argued that originally he was charged with embezzling US $3.3 million only, and he had paid US $7.5 million for “full and final settlement”, believing that he would not be touched again.