ISLAMABAD: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has demanded the asset details of Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi of the Supreme Court (SC).
The decision was taken at a meeting of the PAC, chaired by Noor Alam Khan, with 13 out of 14 members voting in favour of the move.
The PAC was asked by the National Assembly to carry out a special audit of Justice Naqvi’s accounts and sources of income after corruption allegations against him. Several references have been filed against Justice Naqvi in the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) for alleged misconduct and having assets beyond means.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) also accused him of being biased against the party. Senator Mohsin Aziz, a member of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, was the only member who opposed the move.
The committee chairman emphasized that the allegations against Justice Naqvi were related to corruption and that he would not leave the matter alone.
He threatened to issue summons to members who were not present in the meeting and to have the warrants issued for the chief secretaries of all the provinces if they did not appear in the next committee meeting. He also directed the Auditor General of Pakistan to investigate the land owned by the judge and submit a report to him.
He further asked authorities to submit the travel history of Justice Naqvi and directed the National Database and Registration Authority to provide him with a list of the judge’s family members.
In March, Justice Naqvi’s name surfaced in connection with recent audio leaks purportedly involving him, former Punjab chief minister Parvez Elahi, and others.
A number of references have been filed against Justice Naqvi for alleged misconduct and for allegedly violating “the judicial code of conduct, the Constitution and the law”.
Justice Qazi Faez Isa, the senior-most judge of the SC after Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, has also asked the top judge to call a meeting of the SJC to discuss the allegations against Justice Naqvi.
(Islamabad51-Newsdesk)