Imtiaz Gul
Pakistani Opposition leader Rana Sanaullah’s release on bail in a narcotics case – a non-bailable offence under the country’s law – has shaken PM Imran Khan’s government. Critics consider it a slap for all state officials involved in the case that began nearly six months ago with the arrest of Sanaullah, a diehard confidante of former premier Nawaz Sharif.
Regardless of the eventual outcome of the case, Sanaullah’s walk in to freedom on bail – as of now – stands out as a sheer embarrassment for all officials, including the federal minister for narcotics Shehryar Afridi; soon after Sanaullah’s arrest for possession of several kilograms of heroin by the federal Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF), Afridi had thundered in front of tv cameras and in the national parliament, insisting incriminating evidence existed against the PML-N leader.
On the other hand, the bail to Mr.Sanauallah – an extremely vocal critic of PM Khan and the military establishment – reinforces the prevailing negative perception of parts of the judiciary, which many think may be motivated by political or other considerations. People on both sides of the divide smell rat, raising doubts on the capacity of officials of various government departments.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB), an anti-graft watchdog and prosecution authority, is no exception either. It is increasingly being dubbed as a tool to victimise, and coerce political opponents into compliance.
In September (2019), its chairman Javed Iqbal had claimed to had filed 600 corruption references in various accountability courts. Some 1,223 corruption references were then under process, while the overall conviction ratio of NAB was stated to be about 70 percent which helped it recover Rs 326 billion of “ill-gotten money from corrupt.” It also had by end September filed 105 corruption mega corruption cases, including those against leaders of opposition parties – Pakistan Peoples’ Party and the Pakistan Muslim League -N (PML-N) – Dr.Asim Hussein, Sharjeel Memon, ex ministers Miftah Ismail, Ahsan Iqbal, Saad and Salman Rafiq and former premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.
Has the watchdog capacity to produce a smart, water-tight reference that can stand the scrutiny of the court ? Can the prosecutors prepare a charge-sheet based on facts that make intentionally lengthy arguments by the defense totally superfluous and irrelevant?
More than a decade ago, civil society activists and media led by engineer Arshad Abbasi mounted a campaign against the proposed New Murree project. They based their protest against the project on strong data that suggested the negative consequences of a new housing/commercial undertaking above the catchment areas.
Eventually, a suo moto by the Supreme Court culled the ambitious project, reportedly the brainchild of Chaudhrys and a few retired/serving generals. This represented an astounding success on the back of activists’ commitment and data, therefore raising no eye-brows, attracting no allegations of partisanship.
But doubts and reservations abound following several actions by NAB in recent months. The latest – the arrest of Ahsan Iqbal – is apparently yet another case of political witch-hunt in already turbulent circumstances.
The flimsy charges – on the face of it – make it irresistible to conclude that yet another PML-N leader is being arm-twisted. And it only further smears Pakistan’s perception at home and abroad.
Pakistan already faces hostile propaganda abroad – based on negative factors at home . Why should NAB – through such actions – add to the negativity?
Secondly, despite tall claims, NAB today faces a credibility issue that appears to come from a fundamental issue; i.e. the intellectual capacity of the investigation officers (IO)- the lynchpin in the entire process. This (in)capacity results in questionable performance by an IO. It raises undue expectations on a person that is vested with the task of producing an immaculate, unassailable collective outcome of the institution.
The questionable capacity of the investigation officers is only because they are trained in a system that rests on long reports and prolonged arguments
Thirdly, possible malafide intentions also obstruct effective litigation; in a society awash with dirty money investigation officers are always prone to social and financial pressures because of the tendency among the elite to buy favours.
In one particular case, one of the investigation officers stretched a potentially three page report to 146 pages, whereby he loaded the report with numerous repetitions. One particular fact, for example, was repeated at five different places. And it even made references to former President Musharraf and PM Shaukat Aziz – while they had nothing to do with it.
While NAB stands on noble intent and right concepts, its litigating capacity hardly matches those ideals.
Failure to correctly frame unassailable charges has often led to embarrassment for officials, not only of NAB but of other departments as well.
Accountability of all is a national cry. Hardly would any body disagree with the need for it. Poor Pakistanis deserve to know who robbed them of their precious resources. But it must not degenerate into a one-eyed monster for the opposition only. The best course for NAB would be to restrict itself to a few big cases, prepare them well and take them to their logical conclusion instead of spreading itself thin against heavy odds – lack of capacity, forces of status quo and systemic logjam i.e. criminal procedures code (CrPC). It must pursue corruption with straight strokes instead of indulging in free-style swimming. Poor investigation reports, leaky framing of indictments and political compromises have reduced the anti-corruption drive against political bigwigs to a vendetta, instead of making it stand tall as an across-the-board anti-corruption watch-dog.
The big question facing the overbearing NAB is: Can its investigators quantify economic crimes to indict the accused and then hope to carry the day? Can it inuslate its key officials against the temptations that the rich and the mighty dole out to obtain favourably engineered charge-sheets?
