LAHORE, Nov 8: A local accountability court on Tuesday sought legal opinion on the question as to what would be the status of the sentence awarded in absentia to an accused, who was suffering from mental and physical disability and if the court was competent to withdraw its own decision of punishment.
Framing a specific legal preposition on the plea of Advocate Farooq H. Naik, who is representing Begum Nusrat Bhutto in a reference against her, the court asked the National Accountability Bureau and Advocate Naik to debate the legal question on Nov 24 so that the primary issue of court’s jurisdiction was settled before proceeding in the case.
The court observed that the question of a court’s competence in awarding the sentence was the fundamental issue without whose settlement further proceedings would be meaningless.
The court sought the legal opinion after NAB prosecutor Qazi Misbahul Hassan opposed the plea, contending that Begum Bhutto remained absent from court wilfully and this constituted an independent offence under the NAB law and the CrPC which regulated proceedings of the accountability courts.
Mr Hassan also stated that the NAB had not received a direct information about the accused’s illness and it came from a hospital in Dubai — a third-hand information which could not be relied upon.
However, the judge did not agree with the prosecutor observing that the accused might be unable to attend the court and defend herself. He also observed that Begum Bhutto might be suffering from serious mental and physical disorder, but she could not be regarded as an insane person.
He said the court had to first take a decision if Begum Bhutto had wilfully defaulted in appearing before the court and if she had deliberately gone missing.
Advocate Naik cited decisions of superior courts to establish his plea that courts could not declare insane persons proclaimed offenders, as the accountability court did to sentence Begum Nusrat Bhutto in absentia.
He stated that the sentence, passed more than five years ago, was illegal because the accused was suffering from ‘dementia’ as certified by Dr M. Dehbashi, neurosurgeon of the Iranian Hospital, Dubai.
Through the reference, made out on Feb 25, 1998 by the Ehtesab Cell headed by Saifur Rehman during the second government of Nawaz Sharif as prime minister, Begum Bhutto was charged with amassing landed property and keeping bank balance valuing about US $1.5 billion in the USA and certain other European countries, including the UK, Switzerland, France and Spain.
EHTESAB BENCH: An Ehtesab Bench of the Lahore High Court on Tuesday asked the National Accountability Bureau to give its legal opinion on the question if an accused could be proceeded against in more than one reference on identical allegations.