SC Adjourns NAB Plea For Reopening Hudaibiyah Paper Mills Reference

The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned hearing of the case for opening of Hudaibiyah Paper Mills reference till December 11 after the NAB prosecutor sought more time to prepare for the proceedings

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Nov, 2017 ) :The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned hearing of the case for opening of Hudaibiyah Paper Mills reference till December 11 after the NAB prosecutor sought more time to prepare for the proceedings.

During the course of proceedings, a three-judge bench headed by Justice Mushir Alam questioned the National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) Special Prosecutor Imranul Haq as to why the Hudaibiya reference was disposed of, and why it had taken long time to begin proceedings in the case.

Imran Ul Haq apprised the court that the Lahore High Court had closed the reference on technical grounds. When the court asked about the original reference, he replied that he did not have it. To this, Justice Mushir Alam remarked that it was necessary for the court to go through the original reference.

When the NAB lawyer argued that the high court had disposed of the reference not on merit, Justice Qazi Faez Isa remarked that the court would assess the matter.

Imran Ul Haq told the court that the Economic Reforms Act had been used by the accused to cover money laundering.

Justice Qazi Faez Isa remarked that the case would be very different if the suspects were absconding and the court would have to review the legal standards employed in pursuing the case. The NAB prosecutor alleged that in 2014, the referee judge of the high court dismissed the reference and stopped NAB from restarting it.

When Justice Mushir observed that the reference was kept pending for long time, the NAB lawyer argued that the Hudaibiya case was related to the Panama papers case. The appeal for reopening of the reference was filed as per the apex court's directive in the Panama Papers case verdict, he added.