The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) can no longer challenge the accountability court’s decision to bury the corruption references against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and other family members.
In the third week of September the accountability court (AC) had rejected a petition requesting that corruption references against the Sharif family be revived. This decision could have been challenged within 10 days but the deadline passed on September 29.
This is the second time during the current year that NAB did not challenge AC’s orders rejecting further proceedings in high profile corruption references, a move that is tantamount to burying these corruption cases.
Former deputy prosecutor general, NAB, Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri said that the order of the accountability court had attained finality after the prosecution did not file an appeal against it in the high court within the specified time.
According to him, these references are not alive anymore and have become a past and closed chapter.
Under the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), the bureau can challenge a verdict of the accountability court within 10 days of the judgment if NAB wants to pursue the corruption references.
