ISLAMABAD: The federal capital saw not only a former military ruler but also two ex-prime ministers of Pakistan in the dock on Tuesday.

Before retired General Pervez Musharraf arrived in the special court seized with the ‘high treason case’, former prime ministers Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervez Ashraf appeared before the accountability court in connection with the illegal appointment of Tauqir Sadiq as the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) chairman in 2009. Mr Gilani, however, won exemption from day-to-day appearance in the court for security reasons.

Amjad Iqbal Qureshi, one of the defence counsel for Mr Gilani, argued before accountability court judge Mohammad Bashir that his client was a resident of Multan and faced hardship in appearing before the court on every date in addition to the security threats. The court accepted the application and adjourned the matter.

As per the allegations levelled against the former premiers, after appointment of the Ogra chairman, Mr Gilani directed Mr Sadiq for issuance of no-objection certificates for the setting up and relocations of CNG stations despite a ban imposed by the Economic Coordination Committee.

The reference alleged that Mr Gilani nominated Raja Pervez Ashraf, the then minister for water and power, as chairman of the selection committee for the appointment of the Ogra chief.

It was clearly provided in an establishment division memorandum of 1997 that where the charge of a ministry/division was held by the chief executive, the selection board shall be headed by the secretary of the respective ministry/division. Mr Ashraf was neither a relevant minister nor had the knowledge of the working of Ogra.

“The accused willfully and knowingly selected Tauqir Sadiq during the second round of the selection process despite knowing the fact that he had earlier been rejected and more than three candidates having high stature and vast experience were available.”

Mr Gilani also did not pass any directions for the verification of the credentials of the candidate under the rules of Esta Code 2010 - neither at the time of the selection nor after the appointment of Mr Sadiq.

Regarding Mr Ashraf, the NAB reference alleged as the chairman of the selection committee during both rounds of selection process he recommended the name of Mr Sadiq though he was less qualified and had inadequate experience of senior level policy formulation besides possessing unverified credentials.

“The accused Ashraf ignored many potential candidates having rich experience of petroleum sector.”

The reference said Mr Sadiq used his unrecognised/invalid LLM degree to obtain the post of chairman Ogra. He had claimed to have done LLM from American University of London whereas the Higher Education Commission (HEC) confirmed that the said university was not recognised.

While applying for a senior law officer with Ogra in 2002, Mr Sadiq had mentioned his qualification as MBA from the Western College Lahore. But strangely he did not showed this degree while applying for the slot of chairman Ogra. The 20-year work experience claim of Mr Sadiq was also wrong, the reference said.

It alleged that Mr Sadiq had completed his LLB through supplementary examination from the University of the Punjab in 1987. He was also served with show-cause notices during his service as deputy manager/manager (law) in Passco on the allegations of misconduct, mismanagement and continuing private law practice. After being appointed as the Ogra chairman, Mr Sadiq misused his authority and caused a loss of billion of rupees to the national kitty through corruption and corrupt practices.

NAB said the evidence collected during the investigation had established that the accused Sikandar Hayat Maken, ex-joint secretary regulatory authorities wing of cabinet division, Javed Nazir, ex-senior executive director Ogra, Shaukat Durrani, co-opted member/technical expert, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Yousuf Raza Gilani and Tauqir Sadiq in connivance and collaboration with each other committed corruption.

The Supreme Court on November 25, 2011, declared the appointment of Mr Sadiq void ab initio and referred the matter to NAB for a thorough investigation.