ISLAMABAD, July 13: The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed appeals of an accounts officer of the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) Iqbal Ahmed Turabi involved in a corruption reference, but reduced the sentence of his wife Mrs Najma Iqbal from five to three years.
A three-member Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Nazim Hussain Siddiqui, Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar and Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokhar curtailed the sentence against Mrs Najma Iqbal on humanitarian ground, as well as for being a housewife, but maintained the fine of Rs25 million.
"We are of the considered opinion that the prosecution has established its case against the petitioners under Section 9 (v) of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) ordinance and thus the petitioners were rightly convicted and sentenced," Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar stated in his 37-page judgment released here on Tuesday.
A Karachi Accountability Court had convicted Iqbal Ahmed Turabi to ten years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) with a fine of Rs95 million, while his wife Mrs Najma Iqbal was sentenced to five years RI with a fine of Rs95 million, whereas Hassan Raza was sentenced to five years RI with a fine of Rs3 million.
The prosecution had charged that the petitioners abetted through a criminal conspiracy to acquire movable/ immovable properties worth Rs55.1 million and other pecuniary benefits amounting to $6.3 million in the name of Iqbal Turabi his wife and Hassan Raza.
During the course of the trial, Iqbal Turabi and his wife had also requested the NAB for a plea bargain, stating that Turabi had different sources available to acquire properties owned by him.
Later they challenged their conviction in the Sindh High Court which though maintained the substantive sentence, reduced the fine of both Iqbal Ahmed Turabi and his wife Najma Iqbal from Rs95 million to Rs25 million each whereas the fine of Hassan Raza was reduced to Rs2 million from Rs3 million.
Being aggrieved of the decision, they moved an appeal in the Supreme Court against the High Court order. During the hearing, their counsel Muhammad Akram Sheikh vehemently argued that the legal and factual aspects of the case has not been appreciated in its true perspective, by the High Court bench which had resulted in serious miscarriage of justice. The Supreme Court while announcing the judgment on Tuesday refused leave to appeal by dismissing their petitions.
