ISLAMABAD: A day after Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khosa passed remarks about a negative perception of the accountability process, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that the treatment being meted out to him was the perfect example of political engineering by the National Account­ability Bureau (NAB).

Mr Abbasi has written a letter to National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser in which he expressed his displeasure over non-issuance of his production orders.

Talking to Dawn after appearing before an accountability court, Mr Abbasi — who has been remanded in the custody of NAB for another 14 days — said NAB had been investigating the LNG terminal contract case for over a year. He said he had been in NAB custody for the last 55 days, but the bureau’s officials were still investigating the matter and trying to make a case against him on flimsy grounds.

When he was reminded that arrest warrants were issued by the same NAB chairman whom he had appointed when he was prime minister, Mr Abbasi said that he was ashamed of this appointment and that he apologised to the nation for this mistake. “In fact, the Pakistan Peoples Party forwarded the name of retired Justice Javed Iqbal and we had developed consensus on his name,” he said.

Ex-PM complains about non-issuance of production orders for detained members, but NA speaker tells him it cannot be claimed as a right

Mr Abbasi expressed apprehensions that NAB might fabricate a false case against him since its officials did not have any knowledge of charges levelled against him.

NAB’s prosecutor Sohail Arif argued that the investigation officer required Mr Abbasi’s custody for another 14 days for further investigation.

Judge Mohammad Bashir directed NAB to complete the investigation in next 14 days.

Mr Abbasi is accused of awarding a 15-year contract for an LNG terminal against the rules when he was petroleum minister in the cabinet of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

Letter to NA speaker

Meanwhile, former PM Abbasi in his letter to the National Assembly speaker expressed displeasure over non-issuance of production orders for him and other detained members of the assembly.

Mr Abbasi, who could not attend the joint session of parliament on Thursday in which President Arif Alvi addressed the two houses, lamented that the speaker was under tremendous pressure to bar him and other detained members from attending the session of the lower house.

“I have individually and collectively tried to impress upon your office in private meetings, official discussions and on the floor of the house, the need to issue production orders for members of the National Assembly who are under detention: judicial or otherwise. Unfortunately, my efforts have had no effect,” he said.

In response to Mr Abbasi’s letter, the NA speaker wrote a letter to him, saying the Rule 108 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007 provided that the speaker or chairman of a committee may summon a member in custody on the charge of a non-bailable offence to attend a sitting or sittings of the assembly or meeting of a committee of which he is a member, if he considers his presence necessary.

“As regards, issuance of production orders for a member in custody is the sole discretion of the speaker and member cannot claim it as a matter of right,” he said.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2019