ISLAMABAD – The Supreme Court took back its earlier directive of placing the name of Dr Murtaza Amjad, the son-in-law of former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, on the Exit Control List (ECL), however, allowed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to continue inquiry into the Eden Housing scam.
The directives came at a time when the absconding owner of the multi-billion company, Eden Housing and prime accused in the scam, Dr Amjad, who is the father of Murtaza, moved NAB with a request for a plea bargain.
‘NAB told Dr Amjad to immediately deposit 34 per cent of the total money involved in the scam before the bureau initiates other modalities of the plea bargain,’ an interior ministry source revealed.
A review petition was also filed in the supreme court according to which, Murtaza Amjad had on Sept 26 gone to Dubai to visit his wife and children when he was detained at the local airport.
“Since then he is not being allowed to see his wife, and even his lawyer, despite several attempts,” the petition claims.
The petition states that NAB proceedings against Dr Amjad stemmed out of mala fide intentions.
The review petition contended that the placement of Dr Amjad’s name on the ECL was an extreme measure and a restriction on his fundamental rights.
The petition said that Dr Amjad and his family were forced to leave Pakistan, pleading that placement of the name of on the ECL without an opportunity of hearing is in violation of Articles 15 and 25 of the Constitution.
It requested the Supreme Court to review and recall its earlier directive and restrain NAB from further harassment, Dawn News reported.
The Eden Housing scam surfaced in 2013, but then CJP Iftikhar Chaudhry fixed the case before his bench, raising concerns that he was trying to save the skin of his family members, though Iftikhar Chaudhry and his son Dr Arsalan, deny their involvement in the scam.
According to NAB, more than 11,000 people were a victim of the scam. Last month the affectees held a demonstration outside the Zaman Park residence of Prime Minister Imran Khan, urging him to intervene and investigate the matter.
The National Accountability Bureau has identified that the property owned by the Eden group worths up to Rs20bn and claimed that it would soon compensate the affected people.
All known assets worth billions of rupees and bank accounts in the names of Eden Developers and its owners have already been frozen.
