KARACHI: The Sindh High Court’s constitutional bench ruled on Thursday that government officers who entered into voluntary return (VR) agreements with the National Accountability Bureau to refund embezzled funds cannot be barred from holding public office,
In a detailed judgment authored by Justice Zulfiqar Sangi, the bench dismissed a petition challenging the continued employment of officers who had opted for voluntary return during NAB inquiries.
The court held that, prior to the 2002 amendment to the National Accountability Ordinance, voluntary repatriation of corruption money could not be treated as a punishment or legal disqualification.
“The subsequent statutory amendment would not apply to past voluntary repatriation cases,” Justice Sangi observed, adding that officers who had already availed the facility before 2002 were not disqualified from public service. The bench further noted that some of the officers had already faced departmental action and were given minor penalties where warranted.
The petition, filed by Malik Altaf Javed, contended that government officers who had entered into VR agreements during NAB investigations stood disqualified from public office after returning the funds. The petitioner also sought to challenge appointments dating back to 1992.
Rejecting the arguments, the court ruled that such service matters fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Service Tribunal. It further held that challenging an appointment three decades later amounted to negligence, and that “the entire service of an officer cannot be annulled after such a long period of time.”
The judgment is likely to provide relief to scores of serving and retired officials who had opted for voluntary return with NAB. Under the VR scheme, individuals accused of corruption may return the alleged ill-gotten money during investigation and avoid further prosecution, subject to approval by NAB authorities.
Legal experts say the ruling clarifies the legal status of pre-2002 VR cases and draws a line between departmental accountability and statutory disqualification under the NAB law.
