Crusade against looters: Can Chief Justice bring looted money back to Pakistan?

by Tauqeer Abbas
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The Supreme Court (SC) ruled on Thursday that all bank loans written off on political grounds would be recovered. A three-member SC bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, was hearing a case pertaining to waived-off bank loans.

The chief justice observed that those who would fail to return the said money would have to face seizure of their assets. The court ordered for providing the counsel for the petitioners a copy of the report, finalised by Justice Jamshed Commission on the matter.

The CJP asked the petitioners to pay the cost for getting the copy of the commission report, consisting of nine volumes. During the course of hearing, Barrister Zafarullah Khan, one of the petitioners, informed the court that bank loans worth Rs518 billion were written off during the reign of deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif, and former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto, Muhammad Khan Junejo and Yusuf Raza Gilani.

He said that the wife of Yusuf Raza Gilani got Rs200 million loans but returned only Rs45 million, adding that the Chaudhry brothers also got waived loans of Rs120 billion. The counsel for the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) informed the court that the SC had formed a commission to investigate the scandal. The lawyer said the loans were written off on directives by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and added that the court could deliver a verdict based solely on the report by Justice Jamshed.

The NBP lawyer stated in the court that the commission had labelled the waiving of loans as a case of the past. At this, the CJP remarked that he was going to dig up old cases, and added that no investigation was carried out after the report came out.

Later, the court adjourned the hearing for two weeks. The same bench, meanwhile, heard a case pertaining to foreign accounts of Pakistanis and transfer of dollars to other countries from Pakistan. The bench sought complete details of over $50,000 transactions made by Pakistanis to foreign countries during 2017-18 and directed the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) governor to and directed the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) governor to submit a comprehensive report in a sealed envelope within a week.

“At least we should know as to how much money has been transferred by the Pakistanis abroad and the volume of business they have established there,” CJP Saqib Nisar remarked and directed SBP Governor Tariq Bajwa to provide the court with information as to who transferred dollars abroad and how much.

CJ Saqib Nisar remarked that the government itself made such policies which facilitate transfer of wealth abroad. He said that it was failure of the state. But, if he talks of even a job provided on the ‘sifarish’ of somebody, he becomes angry at it. Apparently, the CJP was referring to outburst of Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal who criticised the chief justice the other day for accusing him of appointment of a university vice chancellor on his intervention.

The chief justice observed that they wanted to know as to how many million dollars had been transferred by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Jehangir Tareen abroad and the volume of his assets he had established there.

The SBP governor, Federal Board of Revenue (FB) Chairman Tariq Pasha and Secretary Finance Arif Ahmed Khan appeared before the court. The SBP governor submitted that they could collect information from banks in this regard; however, the names of such people could not be disclosed as required under the law.

The court, however, asked the governor to provide the details of money transferred abroad by the Pakistanis during the last one year, adding that the information should be provided in a sealed envelop.

The FBR chairman submitted before the court that they could contact the foreign countries for asserting the foreign accounts of Pakistanis when they have definite information on that; otherwise, the countries didn’t provide such information.

In the absence of bilateral treaties with the foreign countries, they could not ask the countries to share information about the foreign accounts of Pakistanis. This is the total failure of the state and you people have enacted such a law, allowing the people to transfer their money abroad, the CJP observed.

Justice Umar Ata Bandial observed that Chine had caught its citizens, who had transferred their money to Switzerland and Thailand, then why don’t you do this. Tariq Bajwa, however, contended that they have to go by the existing laws, adding that in 1998 when the Government of Pakistan froze the foreign banks accounts after becoming a nuclear power, it caused negative impact on the economy while the foreign investors also got discouraged.

He stated that under the 1992 law, details of the investors, who transferred their assets abroad, could not be told. The CJ hinted that the court might strike down the said law. The CJP asked the SBP governor and FBR chairman to withdraw from the officials heavy vehicles and make them use 1300CC cars as per entitlement.

Former information minister Muhammad Ali Durrani told the court that it is a normal practice abroad that wherever the thieves are caught, that country’s economy improves. But here in Pakistan, the picture is quite different. When the chief justice asks for netting the thief, it is told that it will cause negative impact on the country’s economy. Later, the court adjourned further hearing for a week.

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