Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) member of the Parliament (MP) Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah on Wednesday asked the National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser to issue the production order for PPP leader Syed Khursheed Shah for him to enable him to attend the budget sessions. Sources claim that the NA Speaker is to issue production orders of Khursheed Shah.
Shah, former opposition leader in the Lower House, was arrested last year by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in a case regarding his alleged assets beyond means.
Multiple corruption cases against Shah are under investigation with the anti-graft agency. In 2012, an accountability court had directed the bureau to file a reference against him on a complaint pertaining to the alleged accumulation of illegitimate assets. The following year, the agency had reopened two corruption cases against Shah under the directives of the Lahore High Court (LHC).
NA Speaker to issue production orders of Khursheed Shah: Shah admitted to hospital?
After his arrest, Syed Khursheed Shah was admitted to the hospital in Sukkur as he was not feeling well. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) shifted Khursheed Shah to the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) after he complained of chest pain.
On September 19, the NAB had arrested PPP senior leader Syed Khursheed Shah in a case pertaining to assets beyond income source.
Read More: Why does PPP deny any assistance from center?
The inquiry against Khursheed Shah was initiated on August 7. The PPP leader is accused of illegally registering an empty plot in his name for a bungalow in the Cooperative Society. The PPP leader had also allotted to himself an amnesty plot illegally from a cooperative society in Sukkur.
Politics, ailment, and accountability in Pakistan
It is also important to recall that NAB has decided to open the Steel Mills Regularization case inquiry against Mr. Shah. “Shah has opened as many as 105 banks accounts under his and family members name in Karachi, Sukkur and other cities”, NAB sources had claimed.
As the PPP wants the NA Speaker to issue production orders of Khursheed Shah, it must be recalled that no politically powerful person in Pakistan’s history has ever been punished in a court of law in a corruption case; convictions even if obtained in lower courts are almost always overturned by superior courts. The system simply does not have the will to punish powerful people- they argue. In high profile cases powerful sections of media, doctors and other actors active behind the scenes make efforts to pressurize the government to avoid accountability.
Interestingly, in Pakistan’s politics, the ailment has become a political tool to seek public sympathy and avoid all sort of inquiries and tough questions. From Dr. Asim to the former finance minister Ishaq Dar everyone used ailment card to avoid courts and to get public sympathy. It is considered an easy task to blackmail the simple-minded people on emotional grounds.
Read More: PTI and PPP at war of words over donations from China’s Alibaba Company
In Pakistan, it has become a trend that influential people fall ill when they are arrested due to some illegal activities. Former Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Asif Saeed Khosa once asked how everyone who was arrested by NAB fell ill and remarked that NAB should construct a state-of-the-art hospital to treat those people. He further said that some people were exploiting the law that allows prisoners with health problems to be transferred to a hospital. “It has become a regular practice,” he claimed. “Medical boards grant favors to people accused of crimes.” Justice Khosa was hearing Sharjeel Inam bail application on December 2017.