LAHORE (APP):A Lahore High Court (LHC) division bench on Tuesday disposed of an intra-court appeal (ICA) filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against a single bench order that stopped authorities from arresting former chief minister Punjab Chaudhry Parvez Elahi in any blind or unknown cases, after terming it non-maintainable.
In a five page verdict released here, the bench held that the order did not adversely affect the appellant (NAB) because it was not aggrieved by the impugned order and no specific directions were issued.
“Therefore, we are of the view that the appellant was not aggrieved of the impugned order passed on the writ petition since it did not issue any specific direction to the appellant, hence, we deem it appropriate to observe that such an order does not adversely affect the appellant,” it read.
The bench further held that the appeal was within the time frame. It observed that the impugned order was passed during the summer vacations and the appeal was filed on the very first day after the summer vacations. As per additional registrar’s notification, an appeal could be filed within 20 days of passing the impugned order during the summer vacations or on the opening day of court after summer vacations, it added.
The bench also noted that the Punjab government filed the first appeal against the impugned order but the NAB did not fall under its control, adding that a party aggrieved by the impugned order could not be debarred from filing its own appeal.
The division bench comprising Justice Ali Baqar Najafi and Justice Raheel Kamran had reserved the verdict after hearing detailed arguments of the parties earlier in the day.
Earlier, NAB’s counsel argued before the court that a single bench stopped authorities from arresting former chief minister Punjab Chaudhry Parvez Elahi in any blind or unknown cases or pending inquiries under Anti-Corruption establishment Punjab rules and Federal Investigation Agency Act on a writ petition filed by Parvez Elahi.
He submitted that although the bureau was impleaded as respondent in the petition, it did not file any report or para wise comments as no notices were issued. He submitted that the court did not issue any direction to the bureau in the impugned order but the single bench was requested by Parvez Elahi’s counsel to issue directions for the compliance of the impugned order by the appellant (NAB), during the implementation petition. He pleaded with the court to set aside the impugned order by the single bench.
However, Parvez Elahi’s counsel submitted that the appeal was not maintainable as it was not only time barred but the same order was challenged by the Punjab government through an appeal but it had been dismissed. He submitted that since the appellant was made a party, therefore, the order was also applicable to the extent of the bureau.