ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked for details of assets of former presidents retired Gen Pervez Musharraf and Asif Ali Zardari and former attorney general Malik Muhammad Qayyum.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar also ordered the respondents to furnish their bank accounts and assets both inside and outside the country as well as investments made in offshore companies. They are also required to provide details of assets of their spouses and children both in the country and abroad.

The court issued the directives on a petition filed by Advocate Feroz Shah Gilani, president of the Lawyers Foundation for Justice, naming Mr Musharraf, Mr Zardari, Mr Qayyum and the National Accountability Bureau as respondents.

The petitioner requested the court to order recovery of huge amounts of public money misappropriated and wasted by the respondents through unlawful means already on record in different judgements of the Supreme Court and high courts.

Advocate Gilani contended that Mr Musharraf subverted the Constitution by declaring a state of emergency, promulgated the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) and arbitrarily withdrew criminal and corruption cases against politicians, including Mr Zardari, which caused huge financial losses to the national exchequer.

On Wednesday, when Farooq H. Naek, representing Mr Zardari, recalled that a reply on behalf of his client had already been submitted, the court said the former president needed to furnish details of his assets as well as bank accounts.

The counsel for Mr Musharraf sought two weeks to submit a reply, saying the notice issued to his client on April 24 was received on July 3.

The court hinted that it might also summon statements from the legislators and aspiring poll candidates about their assets abroad and also mentioned the tax amnesty scheme, adding that any wrong facts provided in affidavits would be discovered.

In his reply, Mr Zardari had contended that no case of causing losses to the public exchequer or looting and plundering the national wealth had ever been proved against him in Pakistan or abroad. He said he had no role in the promulgation of NRO because he was in jail when it was introduced.

Cases against Mr Zardari were reopened when the NRO was set aside by the Supreme Court in 2009 and all the cases were tried de novo which resulted in his acquittal on merit, the reply added.

Published in Dawn, July 5th, 2018