Don't trust NAB, ask Scotland Yard to probe Arsalan Iftikhar

Asma Jahangir, the former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), on Monday criticised the role of the Supreme Court and its decision to form a one member commission to further investigate the Dr Arsalan Iftikhar case, suggesting the Court instead turn to foreign investigation agencies if it did not trust state institutions. Talking to reporters at the Lahore High Court premises, Jahangir alleged that the Supreme Court was not meeting the requirements enshrined for delivering justice in the case against Dr Arsalan Iftikhar, son of Chief Justice of Pakistan. She also rejected the appointment of Dr Shoaib Suddle, the officer tasked by the SC to investigate the case after barring the NAB from investigating into the matter. Jahangir alleged the apex court wanted to facilitate the investigations by appointing Suddle since he enjoyed close ties with Dr Iftikhar. Suddle could therefore, not be trusted to conduct a transparent investigation. “The Supreme Court should ask the Scotland Yard to conduct the investigation of Dr Arsalan Iftikhar case if it has no confidence in the national institutions”, she said. She added that Suddle was also known to be a regular attendant of Dr Iftikhar’s events. Therefore, he could not be expected to conduct a transparent investigation into the case. While maintaining that the law of benefit of doubt should be given to Dr Iftikhar, it should be treated equally for everyone. Criticising the court’s decision, she said if there were any questions over the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) investigating team, then the team could have been changed instead of changing the investigating authority. August 30, the Supreme Court had accepted a review petition against its own earlier order, appointing Federal Tax Ombudsman Dr Mohammad Shoaib Suddle as the one man-commission to probe the controversial case regarding a business deal worth Rs342 million between Dr Arsalan Iftikhar and business tycoon Malik Riaz.