From Newspaper

8,041 NRO beneficiaries to breathe freely till January 16
Sabir Shah
While the decision of the Supreme Court in the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) implementation case on Tuesday may have ignited fiery debates across the country, with critics of this verdict visibly outnumbering the supporters of the Judicial Restraint doctrine exercised by the arbiters, the judgment has undoubtedly helped the beneficiaries of this controversial ordinance to heave a sigh of relief till January 16 at least.

Issued by the former Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf some 1,555 days ago on October 5, 2007, the NRO had granted amnesty to politicians, political workers and bureaucrats accused of corruption, money laundering, murder and terrorism etc between January 1, 1986, and October 12, 1999.

A tentative glance through the NRO chronology shows that it was first declared unconstitutional by a 17-member bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on December 16, 2009 or 755 days ago, although the incumbent Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had earlier displayed the guts to suspend this Presidential order on October 12, 2007, just a week or so after it was promulgated.

But the Chief Justice was soon dismissed after President Musharraf had resorted to abrogate the Constitution by proclaiming Emergency in the country on November 3, 2007. The new Chief Justice, Abdul Hameed Dogar had consequently revived this amnesty order issued by the Presidency on February 27, 2008.

In November 2009, the list of the NRO beneficiaries was first released officially on the orders of the sitting Premier Yusuf Raza Gilani. This particular list had carried names of 8,401 beneficiaries, most of whom were bureaucrats.

However, at least 34 politicians and three ambassadors were also among the “lucky ones” to get an official pardon for their sins and wrongdoings.

Just to recap events from recent history, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had then asked the Interior Ministry to bar 248 people (including Interior Minister Rehman Malik) from leaving the country.

The days that followed also saw the Pakistani Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar being stopped at the Islamabad Airport from departing the country on a trip to China. A November 20, 2009 story carried by The News International had stated: “The National Accountability Bureau has presented to the government a list of 248 politicians and bureaucrats, who were alleged to have plundered hundreds of billions of rupees but were cleared by the NAB under the NRO.”

Ansar Abbasi had gone on to write in his afore-cited story: “Sources in the Law Ministry while sharing with The News the “complete list” of NAB’s NRO beneficiaries, explained that thousands of other cases of NRO beneficiaries did not belong to the NAB but with the provincial governments because they were criminal cases and did not fall within NAB purview. On top of the list is the name of President Asif Ali Zardari while his several close associates, both political and bureaucratic, including Rehman Malik, Salman Farooqi and his brother Usman Farooqi, Hussain Haqqani and Siraj Shamsuddin are also reflected.”

Having mentioned President Asif Zardari being the biggest NRO beneficiary, “The News International” had also printed many other names who had received this massive favour from General Musharraf.

These names included the likes of Yousaf Talpur, late Ms Nusrat Bhutto, Jehangir Badr, Ahmad Mukhtar, Malik Mushtaq Awan, PML-N MNA Rana Nazir Ahmed, ex-MPA Mian M Rashid, ex-MPA Tariq Anees, ex-MPA Mian Tariq Mehmood Dina, Agha Sirajuddin, Aftab Ahmed Sherpao, ex-provincial minister Ghani-ur-Rehman, ex-senator Haji Gulsher, ex-provincial minister Habibullah Khan Kundi, ex-MNA Mir Baz Khan Khethran, Anwar Saifullah Khan, ex-provincial minister Sardar Mansoor Leghari, ex-Mayor Sargodha Ch Abdul Hameed, ex-chairman Zila Council Lahore Ch Shoukat Ali, ex-MNA Haji Kabir, ex-chairman Zila Council Lahore Chaudhry Zulfikar Ali, Rehman Malik, ex-secretary information and presently Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani, ex-federal secretary and presently principal secretary to the President Suleman Farooqi, former principal secretary to the PM Gilani Siraj Shamsuddin, ex-NBP president M B Abbasi, ex-secretary Sindh Rasool Baksh Rahoo, ex-DG textile quota Nayyar Bari, ex- secretary commerce Brig (R) Aslam Hayat Qureshi, ex-advisor to Prime Minister A R Siddiqi, ex-principal secretary to the PM Saeed Mehdi, ex-principal secretary to the PM Ahmed Sadiq, ex-chief secretary Punjab Javed Qureshi, ex-DG Intelligence Bureau Brig Imtiaz, ex-MD Printing Corporation of Pakistan Pir Mukarram Shah,; ex-secretary Petroleum Capt (R) Naseer Ahmad, ex-FIA Assistant Director Sajjad Haider, ex-Deputy Director FIA Ch Muhammad Sharif, ex-Additional Commissioner Income Tax Javed Iqbal Mirza, ex-Managing Director Karachi Water and Sewerage Board Aftab Ahmed, ex-Regional Commissioner of Income Tax Sindh Abrar Ahmed, ex-Secretary Javed Burki, former DG Port Qasim Authority Irshad Ahmed Sheikh, ex-DG Peshawar Development Authority Syed Zahir Shah and ex-SP Railways Inamur Rehman Sehri etc.

While the decision of the Supreme Court in the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) implementation case on Tuesday may have ignited fiery debates across the country, with critics of this verdict visibly outnumbering the supporters of the Judicial Restraint doctrine exercised by the arbiters, the judgment has undoubtedly helped the beneficiaries of this controversial ordinance to heave a sigh of relief till January 16 at least.

Issued by the former Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf some 1,555 days ago on October 5, 2007, the NRO had granted amnesty to politicians, political workers and bureaucrats accused of corruption, money laundering, murder and terrorism etc between January 1, 1986, and October 12, 1999.

A tentative glance through the NRO chronology shows that it was first declared unconstitutional by a 17-member bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on December 16, 2009 or 755 days ago, although the incumbent Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had earlier displayed the guts to suspend this Presidential order on October 12, 2007, just a week or so after it was promulgated.

But the Chief Justice was soon dismissed after President Musharraf had resorted to abrogate the Constitution by proclaiming Emergency in the country on November 3, 2007. The new Chief Justice, Abdul Hameed Dogar had consequently revived this amnesty order issued by the Presidency on February 27, 2008.

In November 2009, the list of the NRO beneficiaries was first released officially on the orders of the sitting Premier Yusuf Raza Gilani. This particular list had carried names of 8,401 beneficiaries, most of whom were bureaucrats.

However, at least 34 politicians and three ambassadors were also among the “lucky ones” to get an official pardon for their sins and wrongdoings.

Just to recap events from recent history, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had then asked the Interior Ministry to bar 248 people (including Interior Minister Rehman Malik) from leaving the country.

The days that followed also saw the Pakistani Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar being stopped at the Islamabad Airport from departing the country on a trip to China. A November 20, 2009 story carried by The News International had stated: “The National Accountability Bureau has presented to the government a list of 248 politicians and bureaucrats, who were alleged to have plundered hundreds of billions of rupees but were cleared by the NAB under the NRO.”

Ansar Abbasi had gone on to write in his afore-cited story: “Sources in the Law Ministry while sharing with The News the “complete list” of NAB’s NRO beneficiaries, explained that thousands of other cases of NRO beneficiaries did not belong to the NAB but with the provincial governments because they were criminal cases and did not fall within NAB purview. On top of the list is the name of President Asif Ali Zardari while his several close associates, both political and bureaucratic, including Rehman Malik, Salman Farooqi and his brother Usman Farooqi, Hussain Haqqani and Siraj Shamsuddin are also reflected.”

Having mentioned President Asif Zardari being the biggest NRO beneficiary, “The News International” had also printed many other names who had received this massive favour from General Musharraf.

These names included the likes of Yousaf Talpur, late Ms Nusrat Bhutto, Jehangir Badr, Ahmad Mukhtar, Malik Mushtaq Awan, PML-N MNA Rana Nazir Ahmed, ex-MPA Mian M Rashid, ex-MPA Tariq Anees, ex-MPA Mian Tariq Mehmood Dina, Agha Sirajuddin, Aftab Ahmed Sherpao, ex-provincial minister Ghani-ur-Rehman, ex-senator Haji Gulsher, ex-provincial minister Habibullah Khan Kundi, ex-MNA Mir Baz Khan Khethran, Anwar Saifullah Khan, ex-provincial minister Sardar Mansoor Leghari, ex-Mayor Sargodha Ch Abdul Hameed, ex-chairman Zila Council Lahore Ch Shoukat Ali, ex-MNA Haji Kabir, ex-chairman Zila Council Lahore Chaudhry Zulfikar Ali, Rehman Malik, ex-secretary information and presently Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani, ex-federal secretary and presently principal secretary to the President Suleman Farooqi, former principal secretary to the PM Gilani Siraj Shamsuddin, ex-NBP president M B Abbasi, ex-secretary Sindh Rasool Baksh Rahoo, ex-DG textile quota Nayyar Bari, ex- secretary commerce Brig (R) Aslam Hayat Qureshi, ex-advisor to Prime Minister A R Siddiqi, ex-principal secretary to the PM Saeed Mehdi, ex-principal secretary to the PM Ahmed Sadiq, ex-chief secretary Punjab Javed Qureshi, ex-DG Intelligence Bureau Brig Imtiaz, ex-MD Printing Corporation of Pakistan Pir Mukarram Shah,; ex-secretary Petroleum Capt (R) Naseer Ahmad, ex-FIA Assistant Director Sajjad Haider, ex-Deputy Director FIA Ch Muhammad Sharif, ex-Additional Commissioner Income Tax Javed Iqbal Mirza, ex-Managing Director Karachi Water and Sewerage Board Aftab Ahmed, ex-Regional Commissioner of Income Tax Sindh Abrar Ahmed, ex-Secretary Javed Burki, former DG Port Qasim Authority Irshad Ahmed Sheikh, ex-DG Peshawar Development Authority Syed Zahir Shah and ex-SP Railways Inamur Rehman Sehri etc.

While the decision of the Supreme Court in the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) implementation case on Tuesday may have ignited fiery debates across the country, with critics of this verdict visibly outnumbering the supporters of the Judicial Restraint doctrine exercised by the arbiters, the judgment has undoubtedly helped the beneficiaries of this controversial ordinance to heave a sigh of relief till January 16 at least.

Issued by the former Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf some 1,555 days ago on October 5, 2007, the NRO had granted amnesty to politicians, political workers and bureaucrats accused of corruption, money laundering, murder and terrorism etc between January 1, 1986, and October 12, 1999.

A tentative glance through the NRO chronology shows that it was first declared unconstitutional by a 17-member bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on December 16, 2009 or 755 days ago, although the incumbent Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had earlier displayed the guts to suspend this Presidential order on October 12, 2007, just a week or so after it was promulgated.

But the Chief Justice was soon dismissed after President Musharraf had resorted to abrogate the Constitution by proclaiming Emergency in the country on November 3, 2007. The new Chief Justice, Abdul Hameed Dogar had consequently revived this amnesty order issued by the Presidency on February 27, 2008.

In November 2009, the list of the NRO beneficiaries was first released officially on the orders of the sitting Premier Yusuf Raza Gilani. This particular list had carried names of 8,401 beneficiaries, most of whom were bureaucrats.

However, at least 34 politicians and three ambassadors were also among the “lucky ones” to get an official pardon for their sins and wrongdoings.

Just to recap events from recent history, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had then asked the Interior Ministry to bar 248 people (including Interior Minister Rehman Malik) from leaving the country.

The days that followed also saw the Pakistani Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar being stopped at the Islamabad Airport from departing the country on a trip to China. A November 20, 2009 story carried by The News International had stated: “The National Accountability Bureau has presented to the government a list of 248 politicians and bureaucrats, who were alleged to have plundered hundreds of billions of rupees but were cleared by the NAB under the NRO.”

Ansar Abbasi had gone on to write in his afore-cited story: “Sources in the Law Ministry while sharing with The News the “complete list” of NAB’s NRO beneficiaries, explained that thousands of other cases of NRO beneficiaries did not belong to the NAB but with the provincial governments because they were criminal cases and did not fall within NAB purview. On top of the list is the name of President Asif Ali Zardari while his several close associates, both political and bureaucratic, including Rehman Malik, Salman Farooqi and his brother Usman Farooqi, Hussain Haqqani and Siraj Shamsuddin are also reflected.”

Having mentioned President Asif Zardari being the biggest NRO beneficiary, “The News International” had also printed many other names who had received this massive favour from General Musharraf.

These names included the likes of Yousaf Talpur, late Ms Nusrat Bhutto, Jehangir Badr, Ahmad Mukhtar, Malik Mushtaq Awan, PML-N MNA Rana Nazir Ahmed, ex-MPA Mian M Rashid, ex-MPA Tariq Anees, ex-MPA Mian Tariq Mehmood Dina, Agha Sirajuddin, Aftab Ahmed Sherpao, ex-provincial minister Ghani-ur-Rehman, ex-senator Haji Gulsher, ex-provincial minister Habibullah Khan Kundi, ex-MNA Mir Baz Khan Khethran, Anwar Saifullah Khan, ex-provincial minister Sardar Mansoor Leghari, ex-Mayor Sargodha Ch Abdul Hameed, ex-chairman Zila Council Lahore Ch Shoukat Ali, ex-MNA Haji Kabir, ex-chairman Zila Council Lahore Chaudhry Zulfikar Ali, Rehman Malik, ex-secretary information and presently Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani, ex-federal secretary and presently principal secretary to the President Suleman Farooqi, former principal secretary to the PM Gilani Siraj Shamsuddin, ex-NBP president M B Abbasi, ex-secretary Sindh Rasool Baksh Rahoo, ex-DG textile quota Nayyar Bari, ex- secretary commerce Brig (R) Aslam Hayat Qureshi, ex-advisor to Prime Minister A R Siddiqi, ex-principal secretary to the PM Saeed Mehdi, ex-principal secretary to the PM Ahmed Sadiq, ex-chief secretary Punjab Javed Qureshi, ex-DG Intelligence Bureau Brig Imtiaz, ex-MD Printing Corporation of Pakistan Pir Mukarram Shah,; ex-secretary Petroleum Capt (R) Naseer Ahmad, ex-FIA Assistant Director Sajjad Haider, ex-Deputy Director FIA Ch Muhammad Sharif, ex-Additional Commissioner Income Tax Javed Iqbal Mirza, ex-Managing Director Karachi Water and Sewerage Board Aftab Ahmed, ex-Regional Commissioner of Income Tax Sindh Abrar Ahmed, ex-Secretary Javed Burki, former DG Port Qasim Authority Irshad Ahmed Sheikh, ex-DG Peshawar Development Authority Syed Zahir Shah and ex-SP Railways Inamur Rehman Sehri etc.

Government allies, senior jurists oppose NRO

Dilshad Azeem
Islamabad:The government partners, by and large, have been opposing the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) and calling for an implementation of the Supreme Court verdict on it since announced on Dec 16, 2009.

Besides the political parties, the senior jurists and three successive Presidents of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) also issued warnings from time to time to the government for executing the landmark judgment.

The Gilani government’s sitting and past allies including the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Pakistan Muslim League-Q, group of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and Awami National Party (ANP) are on-record while voicing for the implementation of the court verdict.

They, particularly the MQM and PML-Q, described the NRO as a black law and said it was meant to benefit the top PPP leaders while withdrawing corruption cases against them in a specific time period.

The MQM, JUI-F (former ally), Fata members and the ANP showed their teeth in Oct-Nov 2009 for the first time when the government placed the NRO before the parliament for parliamentary legislation requiring simple majority vote. They, almost all, took the opportunity as a bargaining ship and opposed it, ultimately, the government faced a humiliating defeat.

The incumbent SCBA President Yasin Azad, last Nov 25, called upon the government to fully implement the SC verdict in NRO case. “The court orders should be fully implemented,” he reacted on the SC’s ruling over the government’s review petition. His successors Asma Jehnagir and Qazi Anwer also adopted the similar stand.

Earlier senior lawyers, Muneer A Malik and Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan, SCBA Presidents in 2007 and 2008 respectively, had led the lawyers’ move for restoration of the judiciary since General (Retd) Musharraf imposed PCO.

At one time in November 2009, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was left alone in the parliament on the NRO, as the PML-N had been from its day one opponent not only rejecting it but also stood by the SC for the implementation of its judgment in letter and spirit.

It was November 2, 2009 when the MQM came out with full force to reject the NRO and advised President Asif Ali Zardari to resign saving the democratic system in the country.

The MQM Chief Altaf Hussain, dubbing it as a black law, had harshly stated that the government placed the legislation before the parliament for an approval despite his party’s recommendations against it after the nation rejected it.

As the Muttahida continued to quit and join the government, Altaf asked Zardari and his colleagues, the NRO beneficiaries, to appear before the courts, as “the corruption would be legitimized in case of its approval by the Parliament, which is against the policies of the MQM.” On the same day (Nov 2), MNAs from PML-N, PML-Q, PML (Like Minded) and the MNAs from Fata took part in a joint walkout.

The PML-Q, which is now part of the government, had said that the NRO was a national issue and all opposition parties were united over this issue. “The NRO is a stigma for the parliamentary history and we would oppose this law with full vigour,” what its leader Chaudhry Parvaiz Elahi had said. “We will not support any bill that is aimed at giving blanket indemnity to corruption. We have opposed it once and will do the same if and when the government brings a new law (to support the ordinance),” said Kamil Ali Agha, PML-Q leader after his party entered a deal with the PPP and joined the government bandwagon.

Two month back (Nov 28, 2011), the ANP Information Secretary Zahid Khan said that his party had a principled position on the issue and like last year, his party will oppose the ordinance.

The PML-N wants implementation of the court verdict in the NRO case, PML-N chief Nawaz said. Shahbaz said, The PML-N had also attempted to block the legislation in Senate as it along with the PML-Q opposed it jointly.

“We will urge all these MPs not to chop the branch of the tree on which they themselves are sitting. But we can’t guarantee the support of the ANP and the JUI in favour of the disapproval resolution because they are not in our discipline,” Senator Pervez Rashid had said at the time of the blocking move.

The smaller parties such as the National Party, the Pukhtunkhwa Awami Party, Balochistan National Party-Awami and Functional League have been silent on the NRO when it was brought before the parliament or as far as its implementation is concerned. They have been judging the direction of the wind.

“The lawmakers from Fata have decided to oppose the NRO in parliament,” were the words of Munir Orakzai, leader of Tribal Areas’ parliamentary group. “The controversial ordinance lacks both public and political support.”

PTI supports SC verdict in NRO case

Our correspondent
Islamabad:The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has supported the Supreme Court verdict in NRO case and said any misadventure by the corrupt rulers would be resisted with the power of masses.

“PTI will resist any attempt by the rulers to undermine the judiciary,” said PTI Central Information Secretary Shafqat Mehmood here in a statement issued by the party’s central secretariat.

He contended the PPP-led government was committing contempt of the apex court by not implementing its orders and judgments and this way, a policy of triggering collision among the state institutions was being promoted.

The PTI information secretary cautioned that the consequences of this policy would not be good at all. Shafqat appreciated the court for showing flexibility again by offering six options to the government so that it could decide on its own, which course was to be adopted on the matter. He said if the government failed to accord respect to the court directions, the PTI would stand by the judiciary and send the rulers packing with the support of masses.