Islamabad: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Accountability Irfan Qadir said that matters of superior court judges could be referred to National Accountability Bureau (NAB) if they have “Criminal overtones” or an “Element of corruption”.

“National Accountability Ordinance has jurisdiction and NAB can be referred to, there is no sacred cow for this law,” Qadir said in news conference here. Qadir’s remarks come at time when Parliament has passed law to curtail suo motu powers of Chief Justice through Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023.

“There is only one category,” Qadir said. “And that is our superior court judges for whom confusion was created [with regard to laws].” He added, “It was said that their matters were to be referred to Supreme Judicial Council (SJC). Today I want to clarify, yes, [judges’] matters do go to SJC. However, where there are elements of corruption that attract criminality that require criminal proceedings it is there that they can be tried under this [accountability] law.”

Qadir said that in past several years, even as prime ministers were disqualified and their governments were lost, “our Supreme Court ordered that their cases should be referred to NAB, who should investigate them and file references [against PMs]”.

Published in The Daily National Courier, June, 09 2023

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