ISLAMABAD: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Monday sought details on assets, wealth statements, tax returns, and number of plots judges of superior judiciary have in their possession.
The PAC, under the chairmanship of Noor Alam Khan, held an important meeting to investigate the assets and income of Supreme Court Judge Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, whose alleged audio clips had leaked earlier in the year.
During the meeting, Alam expressed his displeasure over the absence of provincial chief secretaries, questioning whether they were being frightened by someone against attending the meeting. He said that the National Assembly had referred the matter to the committee to assess Naqvi’s assets and income.
Barrister Barjees Tahir suggested obtaining Naqvi’s record from relevant institutions, including the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), and State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and postpone the meeting until the chief secretaries show up.
The PAC chairman instructed the chairman of the FBR to provide tax returns and wealth statements of Naqvi and requested details of the plots he received from the government.
The committee also demanded the FBR chief to provide details of any lands or plots Naqvi has sold. “A house in Islamabad is bought at Rs250 million and its worth is shown only Rs50 million to evade taxes,” he added.
Alam instructed the relevant institutions that the complete record regarding the assets, wealth statements, and tax returns of judges from the High Courts and Supreme Court should be provided.
He stated: “All institutions should provide us with the complete record within 15 days.”
In addition, he also urged the chairman of NAB, NADRA, and provincial chief secretaries to attend the meeting.
Earlier this month, the National Assembly asked the parliament’s accountability body to probe corruption allegations against Justice Naqvi.
Expressing his views during a point of order, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Sardar Ayaz Sadiq requested the NA Deputy Speaker Zahid Akram Durrani to refer the matter of Justice Naqvi to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for a probe.
Sadiq said “a lot of material has accumulated” against the judge as all the bar councils and bar association have filed references against him. “One judge is bringing a bad name to all other judges, which is unfortunate and painful.”
In February, an advocate, Mian Dawood, filed a judicial reference in the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), against Justice Naqvi, accusing him of “misconduct” and “amassing illegitimate assets”.
According to the reference, the SC judge and his family members were found “involved in… malpractices and misuse of power in a criminal-designed pattern during his service”.
It alleged that Justice Naqvi used his position “to facilitate his sons and a daughter studying abroad and getting financial gains from [a] Zahid Rafique”. Later more references were filed against the same judge.
