Supreme Court asks NAB to investigate Pakistan Steel Mills corruption case

The Supreme Court has asked the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to carry out the investigation into the Rs 26 billion Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) corruption.

It also issued  a contempt of court notice to Interior Minister Rehman Malik for violating its orders in the case.

A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has ordered that the case be transferred to the NAB from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

The bench announced the verdict in a suo moto case regarding an alleged corruption in the Pakistan Steel Mills, expressing complete dissatisfaction over the investigations conducted by the FIA.

NAB chief was asked by the court to conduct the probe under his supervision and conclude the case within three months.

The bench also issued contempt of court notice to Rehman Malik on constituting a new investigating team in the alleged corruption case without informing the court. He was asked to respond the court within fifteen days.

In the last hearing, the apex court had ordered Industries Secretary Gul Muhammad Rind to come up with an explanation about why had his ministry failed in taking timely action on a forensic audit report (2008-09) that identified cumulative losses of Rs 26.5 billion suffered by the Pakistan Steel Mills in one year.

Upon which, the Secretary informed the court that after receiving the FIA’s report they would decide about sending it to the NAB.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry observed that the audit report had proved massive corruption in the case, saying that the case could only be send to NAB, which would take action against the culprits and recover the looted money.

“It was your responsibility to send the cases to NAB. To establish good governance is the duty of the government,” he remarked. The court reserved its judgment after the Ministry of Production secretary said they had not yet decided to refer the case to NAB.

In August 2006, a nine-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, had reversed the sale of Steel Mills, observing that the privatization process had been carried out in indecent haste.

It had held that PSM was the most profit-making industrial concern when it was put on sale.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on May 16 2012. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.