Former NAB chief prosecutor defends corruption reference

By Mohammad Kamran

ISLAMABAD: Farooq Adam, former prosecutor general of the National Accountability Bureau, who argued corruption references against various accused, on Friday appeared against NAB to defend his client in an accountability reference.

Mr Adam defended a patwari, Muhammad Asghar, who was accused of abusing authority and possessing assets beyond his known source of income. Asghar served in BPS-5 in Islamabad from 1997 to 2000 when NAB authorities arrested him for corruption.

The inquiry revealed that the patwari had many assets including a house worth Rs 7.2 million, bank accounts and investment worth Rs 542,000 under different names. The Rawalpindi Accountability Court had sentenced him to five-year imprisonment and also fined him five million rupees. Before moving to the Supreme Court, the Lahore High Court had also dismissed his appeal. Mr Adam told the court that his client had confessed some of the charges and the rest had not been proved and therefore his sentence should be shortened. He said that his client had been in jail from the past 26 months and the case should be heard on humanitarian grounds.

Justice Iftikhar asked whether a patwari who was serving in BPS-5, whose three children studied in a private school, drove expensive car and held other assets, deserved concession on humanitarian grounds.

Justice Rana Bahgwan Das observed that the sentence could not be reduced. Later, the bench issued notice to the prosecutor general of NAB and adjourned the case.

Home | National