MUHAMMAD IQBAL KHAN NOORI vs NATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY BUREAU (NAB) Ss — 2021 PLD 916 SUPREME-COURT

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MUHAMMAD IQBAL KHAN NOORI VS NATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY BUREAU (NAB) Ss. 9 & 10---Constitution of Pakistan, Arts. 4, 9, 10A, 14, 185(3) & 199---Criminal Procedure Code (V of 1898), S. 497---Person accused of an offence under the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999 ('NAB Ordinance')---Grant of bail in Constitutional jurisdiction of the High Court/Supreme Court---Scope---High Courts had the power to grant bail, under Art. 199 of the Constitution, to any person accused of an offence under the NAB Ordinance, independent of any statutory source of jurisdiction and notwithstanding the prohibition contained in S.9(b) of the NAB Ordinance---High Court, under Art.199 of the Constitution, had the power to judicially review an order passed by the Executive, viz, Chairman NAB or some other authorized officer of the NAB, regarding arrest and detention of a person---High Court while exercising its jurisdiction under Art. 199 of the Constitution for the enforcement of fundamental rights could pass appropriate orders, which included an unconditional release or release on bail, to grant the relief to the aggrieved person---For the enforcement of fundamental rights under the Constitution and not under the sub-constitutional statutory grounds provided in S.497, Cr.P.C., the Supreme Court had been granting bails to the accused persons in NAB cases in exercise of constitutional jurisdiction under Art. 199 read with Art. 185(3) of the Constitution, mainly on the grounds of: (i) delay in conclusion of the trial (ii) life-threatening health condition of the accused, and (iii) non-availability of sufficient incriminating material against the accused. Citation Name: 2021 PLD 916 SUPREME-COURTBookmark this Case MUHAMMAD IQBAL KHAN NOORI VS NATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY BUREAU (NAB) arts. 184(3) & 199---Judicial review of executive actions---Scope---Reasonableness and proportionality were recognized as established grounds of judicial review of executive action. Citation Name: 2021 PLD 916 SUPREME-COURTBookmark this Case MUHAMMAD IQBAL KHAN NOORI VS NATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY BUREAU (NAB) Ss. 5(a), 9, 10, 12(a), 24(a) & 24(d)---Constitution of Pakistan, Arts. 4, 9, 10A, 14, 185(3) & 199---Person accused of an offence under the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999 ('NAB Ordinance')---Bail, grant/refusal of---Requirement of "sufficient material" against the accused---Scope---Law authorised proceedings against a person accused of an offence under the NAB Ordinance, and for the freezing of his property, only when there were reasonable grounds for believing that the accused had committed an offence triable under the Ordinance---In order to ascertain whether "reasonable grounds" existed or not, the Court should not probe into the merit of the case, but restrict itself to the material placed before it by the prosecution (NAB) to see whether some tangible material/evidence was available against the accused which may lead to the inference of his guilt---Mere accusation of an offence would not be sufficient to disentitle an accused from being bailed out; there should be "reasonable grounds" as distinguished from mere allegations or suspicion---Prosecution (NAB) had to show reasonable grounds to believe that the accused had committed the crime---If the Court was not satisfied that there existed reasonable grounds to believe that the accused was guilty, the Court was to grant bail in enforcement of his fundamental rights---Sufficiency of material/evidence connecting the accused with the crime must be viewed with utmost care and caution at the bail stage. Citation Name: 2021 PLD 916 SUPREME-COURTBookmark this Case MUHAMMAD IQBAL KHAN NOORI VS NATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY BUREAU (NAB) Ss. 9 & 10---Constitution of Pakistan, Art. 185(3)---Corruption and corrupt practices---Bail, grant of---Material on the record indicated that the accused was the Director, while the co-accused was the Accountant, in company "P", the company which availed the financial facility (loan) from the Banks---However, they had no concern with the management of company "PLE", whose Directors were alleged to be the ultimate beneficiary of the loan---Banks had filed suits for recovery of their loan in the court of competent jurisdiction, which were pending adjudication---If, after the decree, their company failed to pay the decretal amount, the decree would be satisfied by auction of the mortgaged property---Neither the banks nor the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had alleged that the property mortgaged against the loan did not exist or its ownership was disputed or forged---Counsel for NAB and representatives of the Bank were unable to show the court from the material available as to how the accused and co-accused had committed any fraud or forgery, or the offence of corruption or corrupt practices as defined in S. 9 of the NAB Ordinance, in obtaining the loan for the company they were working for---Material on record did not point out that there existed reasonable grounds to believe that the accused and co-accused had committed the offence alleged---Furthermore a period of more than two years has lapsed since their arrest in the present case, but the completion of the trial was not yet in sight, for no fault of theirs---Petitions for leave to appeal were converted into appeals and allowed, and accused and co-accused were granted bail. Citation Name: 2021 PLD 916 SUPREME-COURTBookmark this Case MUHAMMAD IQBAL KHAN NOORI VS NATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY BUREAU (NAB) Objection as to jurisdiction of a Court/Tribunal---Such objection was to be taken first of all before the same Court or Tribunal for its decision.

MUHAMMAD IQBAL KHAN NOORI vs NATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY BUREAU (NAB) Ss — 2021 PLD 916 SUPREME-COURT

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