Fawad Hasan Fawad, former principal secretary to Nawaz Sharif, shared his plight in National Accountability Bureau’s custody, and said that the treatment meted out to him was “unjust”.
In July 2018, the NAB arrested Fawad on charges of corruption in the Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Scheme scam and three other projects.
The top anti-graft watchdog had accused Fawad of owning illegal assets worth billions of rupees.
In an interview with a senior journalist Talat Hussain, Fawad shared that he was not granted any bail hearings for 10 months. Moreover, during the 19 months he spent in jail, his appeal was heard only twice.
سنئےپاکستان کےنظام انصاف کی کہانی فوادحسن @fawadhasanpkکی زبانی
مجھے19ماہ جیل میں رکھاگیا4سال10ماہ بعدمیں اس جھوٹےکیس سےبری ہواڈھائ سال تک وہ عدالت خالی رکھی گئ جسمیں میراکیس سناجاناتھا10ماہ تک میری ضمانت کی درخواست چیف جسٹس کےٹیبل پرپڑی رہی اوراس کوسننےکےلئےکوئ بنچ نہ بنایاگیا۔ pic.twitter.com/nhOI73IzY3— Ch Mubeen Gujjar (@CMMobeen) February 6, 2023
“While I was working as a civil servant, I had always trusted the justice system. I always had this belief that if there was nowhere to turn to, I can always turn to the courts. However, my experience with the court was frightening.”
He added that it took NAB a year to file a reference after he was taken into custody.
Hasan said that his bail application was not assigned to any bench for 10 months, despite a number of appeals from his lawyer.
“We know that if the need be courts can even open at night,” he said.
On April 9th, 2022, the Islamabad High Court opened its doors prior to midnight as the fate of a no-trust resolution against former prime minister Imran Khan hung in the balance and rumours were rife that Khan might de-notify then army chief General Qamar Jawed Bajwa.
During the interview, Fawad also claimed that NAB’s very first witness clarified that the property in question was not under his name.
“I am not a shareholder in the property, but my family members are,” he said, while adding that none of his family members are public servants, so they were under no obligation to declare that property.
“Any honourable court would have stopped the proceedings the moment it learned the fact that I wasn’t a shareholder in the property,” he lamented.
The NAB acquitted Fawad Hasan Fawad last week in the case after more than four years.
