• Lawyer says decision taken by legal team even if PTI chief does not like it
• Ex-PM assails amendments, terms them contrary to Constitution

ISLAMABAD: Even as Imran Khan railed against amendments to the National Accountability Ordin­ance 1999 recently restored by the Supreme Court, his legal team on Saturday moved an application in an accountability court seeking the former prime minister’s acquittal in the £190 million case on grounds that the amended law protected the decisions taken by the federal cabinet.

Imran Khan had challenged the NAB amendments introduced by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government, which were later set aside by a Supreme Court bench headed by then-chief justice Umar Ata Bandial on Sept 15 last year.

These amendments were restored by the apex court bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa in response to a review petition by the government.

In the application, Imran Khan’s legal team comprising Barrister Salman Safdar, Usman Riaz Gill and Zaheer Abbas said that NAB had initiated proceedings against their client as well as other accused persons at the behest of political rivals.

“Despite being fully aware that the case does not fall within the ambit of the NAO, 1999, NAB exceeded its jurisdiction and filed a false and frivolous reference, alleging that the applicant, as the prime minister of Pakistan, chaired the cabinet meeting held on Dec 03, 2019, during which a deed of confidentiality was approved,” said his application.

The application further stated that the bureau accused Mr Khan of misusing his authority for the said approval and, in return, obtained approximately 458 kanal land in tehsil Sohawa, Rs285 million, and other benefits under the guise of donations for the Al-Qadir University Project Trust.

“Additionally, it is alleged that the applicant and his spouse, through their associate Farhat Shehzadi, received 240 kanal of land from co-accused Ahmad Ali Riaz Malik as compensation for personal gain. Thus, the Accused/Applicant, as a public office holder, is accused of misusing his authority for personal gain for himself and his wife in the form of donations and other benefits.”

The application contended that NAB had filed the reference before the accountability court which framed the charge on Feb 27, 2024, against the applicant and his spouse under nine different counts.

It added that the prosecution presented 35 out of 59 witnesses to substantiate the charges against the applicant and his spouse, and the proceedings were underway.

It said the donations to the Al-Qadir Trust were duly acknowledged by the trustee on March 24, 2021, and the prosecution claimed that they constituted personal gains for the accused and his spouse. The application said there was “no evidence of any personal gain or misuse of authority” by the applicant in the entire episode of the cabinet meeting held on Dec 03, 2019.

Citing the amendment in the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) during 2022, the lawyers claimed that the amended law protected the decisions taken in the cabinet meeting and the cases involving allegations of misuse of authority or procedural lapses in any public or government work, project. It further said that the prosecution failed to present evidence that the public office holder received any material benefit from the transaction.

Further, it must be emphasised that the prosecution witnesses themselves testified during the evidence that neither the applicant nor his spouse had received any personal gain from the trust or its assets to date, it added.

Speaking to Dawn, the PTI chief’s counsel Usman Riaz Gill said the decision to take benefit of the amended NAO had been taken by the legal team.

Talking to the media persons following the proceeding in the accountability court, Mr Khan said NAB amendments were contradictory to the Constitution.

He said it had never happened in any parliament across the world that a law was approved to pardon plunder.

The ex-premier claimed that during the PTI government, NAB was working under the command of then-army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa. Now, he alleged, the incumbent chief of army staff was controlling the bureau.

Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2024