ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court granted interim bail to the chief executive officer (CEO) of B4U Group in Mudaraba case against the surety bond of Rs1 million. A three-judge bench, headed by Acting Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, on Monday, heard the bail application of B4U CEO SaifurRehman.
The bench summoned director general National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Rawalpindi regarding the arrest of SaifurRehman from the Supreme Court premises. The B4U CEO was arrested by the NAB as he entered into the Supreme Court, after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had rejected his bail plea.
The acting CJP said the NAB should recover money in accordance with the law and not to terrorise the public. He asked if the recovery of funds is more important than the rule of law. He stated that when the accused had given undertaking that he would appear before the Supreme Court as per law then there was no need to arrest him from the Court building.
During the proceeding, Justice Munib expressed annoyance over the arrest of the CEO from the apex court premises by the NAB officials. He asked what was the emergency that the NAB arrested Saif from the SC premises in a dramatic style. He asked why an FIR should not be registered against the NAB officials.
The Court ordered the NAB officials, who were involved in the arrest of the B4U CEO from the Supreme Court, to deposit surety bond against Rs1 Lac each. The SC Office was directed to submit the incident footage on the next date. Justice Bandial said the NAB official should have kept in mind the Supreme Court prestige, adding they would not allow such contempt by the NAB officials.
He said through footage they would identify the officials who were involved in the act. Advocate Latif Khosa, representing the CEO B4U Group, argued that such incidents do not even take place in the Sessions Courts. The special prosecutor general NAB informed that the officials have made efforts to arrest the accused, but he escaped many times.
He, however, accepted that the officials made a mistake to arrest the accused from the Supreme Court premises. The SPG said he is ready to tender an apology to the apex court and the applicant (Saif) for the irresponsible act of the NAB officials.
Justice Bandial said the NAB officers need training. He said the officials should not use authority to harass people. According to the NAB, B4U Company is accused of cheating the public at large in the name of investment for which Pakistan's Securities and Exchange Commission has already slapped a Rs4billion fine.
Neither the company has any physical businesses, or any license from the central bank. As per the NAB's record, Rs11 billion were taken from the public through social media, which were found in as many as 26 bank accounts run by the company, and further investigations are under way to calculate the total amount held by the company in other accounts.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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