ISLAMABAD: An accountability court on Friday acquitted two former prime ministers - Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf - as well as other individuals accused in a corruption reference, observing that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had failed to establish any allegations of financial gain or misuse of authority against the suspects.

Accountability court judge Mohammad Bashir issued a 14-page detailed verdict on the reference filed by NAB against Mr Gilani, Mr Ashraf, former federal secretaries Sikander Hayat Maken and Shoukat Hayat Durrani, ex-chairman of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) Tauqeer Sadiq and former managing director of a power distribution company Javaid Nazir.

The reference related to appointment of Tauqeer Sadiq as chairman of Ogra.

NAB investigation accused Mr Maken, a member of the selection committee, of failing to check the credentials of Mr Sadiq for the post of Ogra chairman. Mr Durrani and Mr Nazir, two other members of the selection committee, were accused of recommending Mr Sadiq for the post.

Mr Ashraf was nominated as accused in the reference since he was the minister for water and power at the time of Mr Sadiq’s appointment, while ex-PM Gilani had been accused of giving final approval to the appointment.

NAB in its reference had accused Mr Sadiq of causing losses worth billions of rupees to the national exchequer, for which he was facing another reference.

Advocate Amjad Iqbal Qureshi, the counsel of the ex-premiers, as well as lawyers of other accused persons, filed applications seeking their acquittal under Section 265-K of the Criminal Procedure Code after the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government promulgated a presidential ordinance restricting NAB’s jurisdiction.

The accountability judge observed that the amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) were applicable to this reference as “there is no allegation of receiving monetary benefit or material gain in process of appointment of chairman Ogra in question. Similarly, there is no iota of evidence alluding receiving of any monetary benefit or material gain in the said process”.

“When the jurisdiction of this court ousted in respect of misuse of authority as alleged in the case i.e. in absence of sufficient evidence to show that the holders of public office/accused-petitioners had received or gained any monetary or other material benefit from the decision taken, advice report, or opinion rendered or given by them in appointment of the chairman Ogra.”

Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2022