Zubair Qureshi
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) have moved a joint petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to declare the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) March 12 action of arresting Jang, Geo TV’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mir Shakilur Rehman illegal and without any lawful authority. The petition has also called for restoring the Geo TV to its original numbers.
The IHC has fixed March 18, Wednesday as the date for hearing. Chief Justice of the IHC Justice Athar Minallah will take up the petition which is submitted by Senior Vice President of the PML-N former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Secretary General of the party, Ahsan Iqbal Chaudhry and leaders of the JUI-F and JI.
The petitioners through Barrister Zafarullah Khan have cited the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman, Secretary Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and Chairman of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) as respondents and held that Mir Shakilur Rehman was arrested on the orders of the NAB Chairman abusing the statutory powers of arrest by the Bureau under National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999 and in violation of the constitutional guarantees of fundamental rights and the law laid down by the superior courts. The petitioners have also referred to the IHC’s recent order dated March 8, 2020 in which the court had set parameters and guidelines for the NAB regarding arrest of the accused. “There is no legal basis for issuing the arrest warrant as the accused (Mir Shakil) is not a fugitive nor a terrorist nor a wanted criminal,” says the petition adding, “he is the head of the biggest and the well-reputed media house in Pakistan who was fully cooperating with the NAB and furthermore, it was mere a second call-up notice for complaint verification as the proceedings had not been converted into Enquiry or Investigation stage.”
