IHC sets principles for NAB regarding seizure of properties

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has set principles for the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) regarding the seizure of properties of the convicts, ARY News reported on Saturday.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) set the principles for property seizures by the anti-corruption watchdog in its 18-page judgement following a petition filed against the illegal confiscation of vehicles by NAB during a raid.

The court stated in its judgement that the bureau could only confiscate a property linked with a case that is being heard, whereas, there should a connection between the accused and the committed crime.

The high court declared the seizure of vehicles by NAB ‘illegal’ which were owned by the relatives of Liqauat Qaimkhani during a raid at his residence.

It read that the seizure of five out of the total 8 vehicles was illegal during the raid at the residence of DG Parks Karachi. The anti-graft watchdog had failed to prove the connection of the confiscation of Shah Rukh Jamal, Muhammad Tayyab Khan and Muhammad Haris Khan’s vehicles with the case.

It added that the ‘officials of the Bureau had acted in an arbitrary manner’.

Moreover, the IHC also nullified the verdict of the accountability court following the failure in returning the seized vehicles to Shah Rukh Jamal, Muhammad Tayyab Khan and Muhammad Haris Khan.

The high court issued directives to the accountability court to return the five vehicles to their real owners at the earliest.