The Pakistan Tehreek-e- Insaf (PTI) government has decided to go for fresh investigation into the 18-year-old Rs1.2 billion Hudaibiya Paper Mills scam, being the utmost important ‘link’ of the Sharif family’s corruption.
Hudaibiya Paper Mills scam
The case was allegedly used as a cover by the Sharif family to launder money outside the country in the 1990s. Hudaibiya Paper Mills money laundering reference was initiated on the basis of an April 25, 2000 confession statement from Ishaq Dar, wherein he acknowledged to his role in laundering money to the tune of $14.86 million on behalf of the Sharifs through fabricated accounts.
In 2000, a reference was lodged by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on the basis of that confession before an accountability court against the Hudabiya Paper Mills, three Sharif brothers, Dar and others. However, Ishaq Dar was not charged as he had become an approver for the prosecution.
That reference was struck down by a referee judge of the LHC on March 11, 2014, in response to a writ petition filed in 2011 stating that Dar’s confession was coerced. Dar had claimed that he had made the ‘confession’ under duress and disowned the statement.
Trial details
When the case was shifted to the Accountability Court during Musharraf government, Nawaz Sharif was already under arrest and later was exiled to Saudi Arabia. The then the National Accountability Bureau’s prosecutor general told the judge during the trial that some of the blamed elements were out of Pakistan, at which the court adjourned the case sine die.
However, the case was taken up again in 2008 but was adjourned because the application moved to reopen it lacked signature of the then NAB chairman. The trial court did not issue summons to the accused to face trial since the day the matter was moved to it.
Later, the accused family challenged the reference before the Lahore High Court (LHC). A two member division bench gave a divided judgement. The case was referred to a referee judge on this occasion, who supported the division bench judge favouring closing the case. Hereafter, a ‘clean chit’ was granted to the accused and the case was closed in March 2014.
PM Imran was given a briefing on the cases
On Monday, Prime Minister Imran Khan was given a briefing on the cases pertaining to the President Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz Mian Shehbaz Sharif and leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly.
Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry in a tweet said today, the legal team gave a detailed briefing to Prime Minister Imran Khan regarding the cases of Shehbaz Sharif. He mentioned the government has decided that the Hudaibiya Paper Mills scam needs a fresh investigation.
Fawad Chaudhry pointed out that the agencies concerned were being urged to start the investigation anew, as Hudaibiya case was the most important end of Sharif family corruption.
He minister explained that Shehbaz Sharif and Nawaz Sharif were the main accused in this case. The method used to send money out in Hudaibiya was later adopted in each case; therefore, it was very important to bring this case to an end, he added.
PML-N slammed the govt over decision
PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said the decision to reopen the Hudaibiya Paper Mills case had proved that Imran Khan had acknowledge that the cases filed against Shehbaz Sharif were false. She said Ashiana, clean water, metros, and assets beyond means cases were based on political revenge. The Supreme Court had dismissed the Hudaibiya reference, Aurangzeb said.
The PML-N leader slammed the government’s spokesperson saying the Lahore High Court had quashed the reference — and the Supreme Court had upheld the judgment. She said top courts had dismissed the case and the government had accepted defeat — that is why it is reopening the case
Will the stolen money be returned?
In fact, the key political parties, including Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) ruled the nation several times and they gave nothing but a heap of debt to Pakistan due to corrupt practices. Corruption is the biggest issue of Pakistan that led to unprecedented financial deterioration in the country.
It is imperative the state institutions including Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and National Accountability Bureau (NAB) must be strengthened and empower to punish the corrupt and recover the looted money.
Putting the corrupt elements behind bars for a few months or year is not enough solid steps must be taken to bring back all the money that they had been looting for years.
It is need of the hours that a comprehensive plan should be devised including new legislation to control smuggling and money laundering by avoiding state intuition for political their own political purposes.
PM Imran Khan has an opportunity to create a rights-respecting government that can restore the public’s faith in democratic institutions. Khan should amend or repeal discriminatory laws in all intuitions and hold accountable all who looted the nation’s money that led to unprecedented financial deterioration in the country.
