A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday had taken notice of fresh summons issued by the accountability court for ageing Begum Nusrat Bhutto facing corruption charges in the Cotecna pre-shipment inspection commission reference.
The SC bench, while granting the exemption to Begum Bhutto, had at its last hearing, directed the accountability court to continue with hearing the reference in accordance with the law. The court had also issued notice to NAB prosecutor general.
Hearing the matter on Wednesday, the chief justice observed “What your people are doing. You had placed Begum Bhutto on the ECL.”
The court also was surprised that NAB's senior prosecutor Arif Ali Chauhan had insisted on Begum Bhutto's appearance before the accountability court, ignoring a letter of NAB chairman seeking her exemption.
The court ordered NAB's Deputy Prosecutor General Aamir Abbas to take up the uncalled for attitude of its senior prosecutor with the chairman for appropriate action and submit a report before it on May 25.
The bench also expressed dismay over the order for Begum Bhutto's appearance issued by the accountability judge, wondering how the judge had assumed that her relatives would file a plea for exemption.
“You wanted to say that the government itself wished to see Begum Bhutto in a trial court on a stretcher,” Justice Ramday observed, while addressing the NAB representative.
“What you wanted to do? and when NAB chairman had asked for exemption in writing then why prosecutor was demanding her presence.”
On April 21, Accountability Court No III had issued summons for Begum Bhutto for May 15 in a reference against her.
Judge Najmul Hassan Bukhari had declined to exempt Begum Bhutto with an observation that a certificate should have been presented in the court by the accused or one of her relatives about her condition.
