ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has ‘redefined’ the term misuse of authority, which is being invoked by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to arrest suspects, mostly politicians, over the past few years.

In the recent past, NAB has filed corruption references against several high-profile politicians and bureaucrats on the charge of ‘misuse of authority’.

An IHC division bench, headed by Chief Justice Athar Minallah in a detailed order issued on Wednesday on a bail petition of former interior minister Ahsan Iqbal, observed: “Mere allegations of misuse of authority would not justify depriving an accused of liberty because an irregularity or wrong decision sans criminal intent, mens rea and illegal gain or benefit does not attract the offences under the Ordinance of 1999 [NAO].”

NAB accused Ahsan Iqbal of “misuse of authority” to maneuver approvals to execute the Narowal Sports Complex project. The bureau arrested him on Dec 23, 2019 when he appeared before an investigation officer in compliance with a call-up notice.

Issues detailed order on Ahsan Iqbal’s bail plea

NAB also alleged that the former interior minister had misused the authority to enhance the scope of the project and managed its execution through the federal government, instead of the provincial government.

Ahsan Iqbal’s counsel, on the other hand, argued that NAB had never alleged any criminal intent of the former minister in execution of the project that was conceived when his client was a member of the opposition party and not in the government.

The counsel argued during the course of hearing that the project would benefit the general public and NAB had not alleged that Mr Iqbal had gained any financial benefit. The approvals for the project were granted by various forums, including the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) and National Economic Council (NEC). The Public Sector Development Programme was approved by the National Assembly and there was no allegation of corruption or corrupt practice, he said.

The court order noted: “It is an admitted fact that the proposal for the project was initiated for the use and benefit of the general public of district Narowal.”

As per the order, NAB’s additional prosecutor general Jahanzeb Khan Bharwana “could not show to us sufficient incriminating material relating to corruption and corrupt practices”.

The court observed that though NAB was required to exercise the power of arrest judiciously, in the absence of crucial elements “arrest of an accused would amount to an abuse of the power”.

The court noted that there was nothing on record to substantiate criminal intent of Ahsan Iqbal or whether he had gained any monetary benefit in this project. Subsequently, the court held that NAB had deprived him of the right to liberty.

Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2021