Khyber News

ISLAMABAD: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor apprised the Supreme Court that the incumbent premier and others were involved in the appointment of ex-OGRA Chief Tauqeer Haider.  

 Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary expressed his discomfort on Tuesday over failure of authorities in apprehending the ex-Chief of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), Tauqeer Sadiq. 

According to details, the CJP remarked that the former OGRA chief was a proclaimed offender and there he deserved no leniency.  

Justice Jawad Khawaja remarked that no detaining a criminal was similar to providing protection to the criminal. He said that illegal favors of Rs36 billion were extended to just one party, adding that it was just one part of the whole case. 

NAB prosecutor informed the court that he was facing undue pressure from politicians against probing the ex-OGRA chief. 

The prosecutor without taking the name indicated that a particular police officer was an impediment to the case. He said that during the time of appointment of Tauqeer Haider, the current Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf was the chairman of the interview board. 

A three-member bench headed by the CJP was hearing the case on Ogra’s illegal practices, quizzed the deputy prosecutor general of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) regarding the failure to arrest Sadiq since the issuing of an arrest warrant against him in May.

The deputy prosecutor general of NAB told the court that Sadiq was hiding in Punjab and that the provincial government was providing protection to an absconder.

In his remarks, Justice Jawad S. Khawaja said that corruption amounting to Rs 60 billion had taken place in the Ogra but not a single penny was recovered. The country should not be exploited this way, he added.

The deputy prosecutor general told the court that a warrant for the arrest of the ex-Ogra chief had been issued but IG Punjab Police was not co-operating with regards to conducting the arrest.