KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Thursday directed the provincial government to immediately remove all the officers reinstated in different departments after they entered into plea bargains with the National Accountability Bureau in corruption cases.

Headed by Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M. Shaikh, a two-judge bench also directed Chief Secretary Rizwan Memon to submit an affidavit that no officer who had entered into a plea bargain would be given any posting.

The bench was hearing a case pertaining to the reinstatement of Thatta’s district account officer Ghulam Mustafa Loond after he voluntarily returned Rs200 million.

Plea bargain or voluntary return of embezzled money termed confession of offence

The chief justice remarked that plea bargain or voluntary return of embezzled money was itself a confession by the accused person that he was guilty of the offence, yet he was restored to his original post.

The bench directed the chief secretary to appear before it and submit an affidavit that no officer who had entered into a plea bargain would be given any posting.

The court also directed him to place within three days the list of all those officers who availed the provision of plea bargain. Earlier, the NAB prosecutor informed the judges that Rs16 billion was recovered from 500 corrupt officers of the province

The prosecutor stated that Rs800m was recovered from district account officer Ghulam Mustafa Loond and Mohammad Nazeer after they had opted for plea bargains.

The bench came down hard on the chief secretary when the counsel representing the accused persons informed the judges that both the officers were restored to their positions.

“How was it possible that a person who committed corruption and admitted to the offence could remain in his office?” the chief justice said and asked the chief secretary why he did not take any action against the officials who entered into plea bargains.

The chief justice reminded the provincial government’s top official that he had earlier been directed to take action against such officers telling him that he was committing “misconduct” by not complying with the court’s orders.

The bench also expressed extreme annoyance with the chief secretary for not placing on record the list of the officers who were still posted in different provincial departments after availing the provision of plea bargain and voluntary return of money.

‘Missing persons’ cases

Another two-judge bench expressed extreme displeasure over the failure of the home department and police in tracing the “missing persons”.

The bench that dealt with over 100 cases of missing persons directed the home secretary and the provincial police chief to play an effective role in the recovery of the people believed to have been picked up by law enforcement agencies.

The court rejected the reports submitted by the home department and police regarding the missing persons and observed that shabby reports were being submitted in court while the families of the victims were running from pillar to post.

The bench directed the home department and police to complete investigations into the “missing persons” cases and submit a compliance report within three weeks.

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2017