(Sindh Tribune) : On July 20, a two-member bench of the Supreme Court delivered its verdict in the case of Khawaja Saad Rafique and Khawaja Salman Rafique v. NAB on March 17, 2020, in which both the PML-N leaders were released on bail. A detailed verdict in this case has been issued. The two-member bench is headed by Justice Maqbool Baqir while Justice Mazhar Alam Mian Khel is also part of the bench.
The detailed verdict has been written by Justice Maqbool Baqir and in it he has exposed the NAB's operation, while he has also taken a stand against the practice of targeting political opponents in the name of accountability in Pakistan. Reading this detailed judgment written by Justice Maqbool Baqir, one can understand why Justice Maqbool Baqir had remarked during the hearing of the petition of Justice Qazi Faiz Issa that the system was toyed with in the name of accountability in this country and the country. I have been devastated.
Some of the most important remarks made in this detailed decision are a source of humiliation for both the NAB and the government.
Referring to the NAB's action against the Khwaja brothers, Justice Maqbool Baqir writes that in the light of the facts and circumstances before the court, it can only be said that it is still a mystery as to why the NAB filed the case. Made With the exception of a promising pardoned witness named Qaiser Amin Butt, the NAB does not have a single piece of evidence to show that the two accused had any authority to manage the company. Qaiser Amin Butt also recorded his statement on November 14, 2018. Even the Chairman NAB in his order dated December 15, 2018 apologized to Qaiser Amin Butt and admitted that NAB did not have any evidence against these two petitioners. But despite all this, the NAB had initiated action against them in March 2018 and the first notice of summons was issued to them on March 20, 2018.
The detailed decision said that not a single question was asked by the NAB investigators to the petitioners namely Saad Rafique and Salman Rafique regarding the purchase and sale or allotment of plots to the customers by the company. On this occasion, Justice Maqbool Baqir, while commenting very harshly, wrote that the questions asked by the petitioners are so irrelevant and vague that they prove that the NAB has no idea what its case is. The NAB has failed to find any error even in the documents submitted by the petitioners. Similarly, the NAB could not raise any significant objection to the treatment of both the petitioners. The NAB could not prove in any of the notices that there was any violation of Section 9 of the NAB Ordinance 1999 by the petitioners. And in any case, the issues raised by the NAB were of a private nature and in none of them can it be said that the official position of the petitioners is related to these civil cases. In other words, the Supreme Court is declaring that the NAB has made a case of corruption by dealing with the private and civil matters of the Khwaja brothers.
Targeting the practice of harassing political opponents in the name of accountability, Justice Maqbool Baqir writes in his judgment that since these laws are only used to silence the people by twisting their arms and putting pressure on them, Instead of ridding the country's institutions of corruption and other addictions, they are aggravating the situation, and the point here is simply to either silence them, or bow down to the government, or at least Stay out of the political scene for a while. He wrote that these laws are used to break and weaken political parties. Political dwarfs are ‘selected’, their political careers are nurtured and then they are given powerful positions. "Criminals have been deployed to various positions in this country and the consequences are well known," he wrote.
Justice Maqbool Baqir says that we have reached this stage today because there have been repeated constitutional interventions by undemocratic forces in our country. It has been 72 years since the country was formed, and 47 years have passed since the constitution came into being, but we have not been able to implement it in its true spirit. On the contrary, it would not be out of place to say that we have deviated from its basic principles. Citizens of this country are deprived of their constitutional rights. Whenever any attempt was made to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law, it was suppressed with all its might.
Furthermore, Justice Maqbool Baqir wrote that the situation was exacerbated by the absence of local governments and the transfer of power to them, even in their presence, as it was one of the reasons for the transfer of power to the real representatives of the people. It is an obstacle and also contradicts the very essence of democracy.
Justice Maqbool Baqir has written that if the constitutional rights of any citizen of the state are being taken away, there must be a legal and proper reason for it and it is possible to do so only when the need arises. When deciding whether or not to grant bail to any accused, it should be borne in mind that the purpose of not granting bail can only be to ensure the presence of the accused in court. Its purpose is neither to punish him nor to release him on bail based on any fear. He clearly wrote that the NAB could not prove anywhere that Saad Rafique and Salman Rafique were not cooperating with it, so there was no good reason not to release them on bail.
Justice Maqbool Baqir Kar, who wrote the verdict, would also like to give a brief introduction for the interest of the readers. Justice Maqbool Baqir wants to go to the Supreme Court as a meeting judge who rarely meets. Justice Maqbool Baqir, like other judges of the Supreme Court, is not only a powerful federation but also a minority voice in favor of provincial autonomy. Influential circles are not happy with Justice Maqbool Baqir who has faced a suicide attack in Karachi.
Justice Maqbool Baqir was among the three judges who disagreed with sending the FBR to the wife of Full Court Justice Qazi Faiz Issa.
In his judgment, Justice Maqbool Baqir quotes John Stuart Mill as saying:
"A state that makes its men dwarfs, so that they remain in its hands, albeit for good purposes, as tools ..." It will be known later that no great work can be taken from small men
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