ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has summoned former military ruler General (retd) Pervez Musharraf and his family members to record their statements in connection with a pending inquiry into ‘misuse of power and accumulation of assets beyond known means of income’.
In April, NAB initiated the inquiry against the former president on a complaint filed by a retired army officer Lt Col (retd) Inam-ur-Rahiem. The Islamabad High Court (IHC) had ordered NAB to conduct this inquiry.
NAB Rawalpindi has summoned Musharraf and his wife Sehba Musharraf on July 10, while his children Bilal and Ayla and his son-in-law Asim Raza on July 11.
Rahiem’s application, filed five years back, claimed that Musharraf owns eight immovable assets in the form of property in Pakistan and two abroad. He has under his name three properties in Karachi, two in Islamabad and one each in Lahore and Gwadar.
It said Musharraf owns another property in Karachi under his wife’s name and two properties in UAE and the United Kingdom respectively. Apart from them, he owns three vehicles, two Land Cruisers and one Corolla under his name and four vehicles under his wife’s name.
Rahiem claimed that Musharraf’s assets do not match with his income sources.
On April 4, the graft buster recorded statement of Rahiem in connection with this inquiry and later it issued a notification addressed to district administrations of Lahore and Karachi requesting them to provide property details registered under the name of Musharraf and his family members.
Earlier, NAB had refused to conduct this inquiry stating that it lacks jurisdiction in the matter because as a member of the armed forces the general was immune from being proceeded against under the National Accountability Ordinance 1999.
Later Rahiem had filed a petition before the IHC, challenging NAB’s reply. In Feb 2018, a division bench of the IHC ruled that “the former military dictator is amenable to be proceeded, investigated, tried and convicted under the NAB Ordinance of 1999 if there is evidence that he committed an offence”.
The bench said as Musharraf had resigned and stands retired from the armed forces of Pakistan, the NAB is vested with the power and jurisdiction to consider the complaint of the petitioner. The IHC’s decision resulted in initiation of inquiry against former military dictator.
