ISLAMABAD: In a landmark judgment passed this week, the Pakistani Supreme Court said the country’s anti-corruption watchdog was reluctant to crack down on politicians on “one side of the political divide,” a veiled reference to the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan, but was misusing its powers to take action against others.
The much-awaited 87-page verdict on a bail petition filed by senior leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) opposition party comes amid rising concerns that an anti-graft crusade promoted by Khan, and spearheaded by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), was being used against the government’s political opponents.
Khan and NAB have repeatedly denied this.
“The [National Accountability] Bureau seems reluctant in proceeding against people on one side of the political divide even in respect of financial scams of massive proportion while those on the other side are being arrested and incarcerated for months and years without providing any sufficient cause even when the law mandates investigations to be concluded expeditiously and trial to be concluded within 30 days,” the court verdict read.
Referring to the post-arrest bail plea of PMLN leaders Khawaja Saad Rafique and his brother Khawaja Suleman Rafique in a corruption case involving a housing society, the judgment said: “NAB’s conduct throughout this case is a clear manifestation of their utter disregard for law, fair play, equity and propriety.”
It added: “Indeed, curbing loot, plunder and combating corruption is a noble cause. Nonetheless, the means, process and mechanism employed therefor should be within the parameters as prescribed and mandated by the law and not in derogation thereof.”
Leader of the opposition in the National Assembly and PMLN President Shahbaz Sahrif took to the Twitter to comment on the court verdict:
“SC judgment in the case against Khawaja brothers is a stinging indictment of the NAB & so-called accountability process which was more of a witch-hunt against them than accountability. Their perseverance & determination is laudable.”
NAB has not yet commented on the judgment.
Khan won power last year vowing to root out corruption among what he cast as a venal political elite and views the probes into veteran politicians, including jailed former PM Nawaz Sharif and ex-President Asif Ali Zardari, as long overdue.
While few dispute the need to clean up Pakistani politics, the NAB campaign has become a topic of fierce political debate.
Some in the business community also worry the anti-graft drive is hurting an ailing economy, which has received a $6 billion International Monetary Fund bailout. And the focus of the NAB so far on the Khan government’s political foes and critical voices in the media has prompted accusations of a one-sided purge.
Pakistan top court says anti-graft bureau misusing powers in ‘one-sided’ political purge
https://arab.news/5cr4s
Pakistan top court says anti-graft bureau misusing powers in ‘one-sided’ political purge
- National Accountability Bureau is widely accused of going after the government’s political opponents, it denies the charges
- PM Khan won power in 2018 vowing to end corruption and views probes into opposition politicians as long overdue
Sindh assembly passes resolution rejecting move to separate Karachi
- Chief Minister Shah cites constitutional safeguards against altering provincial boundaries
- Calls to separate Karachi intensified amid governance concerns after a mall fire last month
ISLAMABAD: The provincial assembly of Pakistan’s southern Sindh province on Saturday passed a resolution rejecting any move to separate Karachi, declaring its territorial integrity “non-negotiable” amid political calls to carve the city out as a separate administrative unit.
The resolution comes after fresh demands by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and other voices to grant Karachi provincial or federal status following governance challenges highlighted by the deadly Gul Plaza fire earlier this year that killed 80 people.
Karachi, Pakistan’s largest and most densely populated city, is the country’s main commercial hub and contributes a significant share to the national economy.
Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah tabled the resolution in the assembly, condemning what he described as “divisive statements” about breaking up Sindh or detaching Karachi.
“The province that played a foundational role in the creation of Pakistan cannot allow the fragmentation of its own historic homeland,” Shah told lawmakers, adding that any attempt to divide Sindh or separate Karachi was contrary to the constitution and democratic norms.
Citing Article 239 of Pakistan’s 1973 Constitution, which requires the consent of not less than two-thirds of a provincial assembly to alter provincial boundaries, Shah said any such move could not proceed without the assembly’s approval.
“If any such move is attempted, it is this Assembly — by a two-thirds majority — that will decide,” he said.
The resolution reaffirmed that Karachi would “forever remain” an integral part of Sindh and directed the provincial government to forward the motion to the president, prime minister and parliamentary leadership for record.
Shah said the resolution was not aimed at anyone but referred to the shifting stance of MQM in the debate while warning that opposing the resolution would amount to supporting the division of Sindh.
The party has been a major political force in Karachi with a significant vote bank in the city and has frequently criticized Shah’s provincial administration over its governance of Pakistan’s largest metropolis.
Taha Ahmed Khan, a senior MQM leader, acknowledged that his party had “presented its demand openly on television channels with clear and logical arguments” to separate Karachi from Sindh.
“It is a purely constitutional debate,” he told Arab News by phone. “We are aware that the Pakistan Peoples Party, which rules the province, holds a two-thirds majority and that a new province cannot be created at this stage. But that does not mean new provinces can never be formed.”
Calls to alter Karachi’s status have periodically surfaced amid longstanding complaints over governance, infrastructure and administrative control in the megacity, though no formal proposal to redraw provincial boundaries has been introduced at the federal level.
