CHAIRMAN, NATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY BUREAU vs NISAR AHMED PATHAN S — 2022 PLD 475 SUPREME-COURT

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CHAIRMAN, NATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY BUREAU VS NISAR AHMED PATHAN S. 497(5)---National Accountability Ordinance (XVIII of 1999), Ss. 9 & 10---Constitution of Pakistan, Art. 185(3)---Petitions for cancellation of bail, dismissal of---Main accused already granted bail---Allegation against the accused persons was that they had abetted the "main accused" in the commission of the alleged offence of corruption and corrupt practices, being his benamidars and ostensibly owning certain properties, while the co-accused persons were alleged to have offered illegal gratification/kickbacks to the main accused---High Court granted the relief of post and pre arrest bails to the accused and co-accused persons by considering the alleged role attributed to each of them and the material collected during investigation in support thereof---As to the accused persons who were alleged to be the benamidars of the main accused, the High Court had correctly observed that whether they were benamidars of the main accused or had purchased the properties from their own sources would be determined after recording evidence in the trial---No sufficient material was available on record, at present stage, as to the necessary elements of benami transactions---Further, the accused persons who were the family members of the main accused were not alleged to have played any role in the offence of corrupt practices allegedly committed by the main accused, nor were they alleged to have knowledge of his such alleged corrupt practices---About the co-accused persons who were alleged to have offered illegal gratification/kickbacks to the main accused, the High Court had rightly observed that the real purpose of making payment of certain amounts by them to the main accused could be determined only after recording evidence in the trial---Lastly, but most importantly, the National Accountability Bureau was not able to show sufficient incriminating material on the record of the case to connect the main accused with the commission of offence of corruption and corrupt practices, and therefore he was granted post arrest bail by the Supreme Court---Where the main accused had been granted bail, there remained little justification to decline the same relief to the accused and co-accused persons who were alleged to have merely abetted him in the commission of the offence, as the case against such accused and co-accused persons was at a lower rung than that against the main accused---Petitions for leave to appeal seeking cancellation of bail were dismissed.

CHAIRMAN, NATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY BUREAU vs NISAR AHMED PATHAN S — 2022 PLD 475 SUPREME-COURT

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