Javed Iqbal submits petition in IHC seeking stay against PAC proceedings

Former National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal on Monday submitted a petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking a stay of the Public Accounts Committee’s (PAC) proceedings against him.

The petition cited as respondents the Federation of Pakistan through its secretaries for the interior and parliamentary affairs ministries, National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf through his secretary, PAC Chairman Noor Alam Khan and the PAC’s additional secretary.

The petition, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, referred to the meeting minutes of the PAC session on July 7 that recommended Iqbal’s removal as the chairman of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances.

The development had followed Tayyaba Gul’s recent appearance before the committee. In 2019, Gul was involved in a leaked video clip showing alleged clandestine and illicit relations between her and Iqbal. Gul, and her husband, Mohammad Farooq, were facing inquiries in NAB when the scandal surfaced. Later, NAB had filed a reference against them before an accountability court in Lahore.

Last month, it was reported that she submitted an application with Khan, seeking inquiry against Iqbal, NAB Lahore DG retired Maj Shahzad Saleem and other officials of the bureau for implicating her in a corruption reference.

Iqbal’s petition said that the directions for his removal were beyond the “scope and ambit” of the PAC’s jurisdiction, adding that they contravened the Constitution and the relevant law.

The petition contended that the direction was “void” and “of no legal consequence whatsoever”.

It said the court’s constitutional jurisdiction was being invoked to adjudicate the matter and the July 7 meeting’s minutes were “illegal, ultra-vires, without jurisdiction, void non est and is liable to be set aside”.

It alleged that Khan was “misusing his authority” and indulging in illegal acts, while the PAC had “transgressed its limits”.

The petition requested the court to declare all actions, directions and proceedings of the PAC’s July 7 as illegal and thus, of no legal effect.

It requested the court to grant a mandatory injunction to restrain the respondents from taking any actions, directions and proceedings in the matter till the final adjudication on the instant writ petition.

Acting IHC Chief Justice Amir Farooq will hear the case tomorrow.