The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to extend any further relief to the accused of Rs 9 billion Bank of Punjab (BoP) loan scam, directing them to approach the competent authority for disposal of their properties. A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry dismissed pleas of Sheikh Afzal, principal accused and of his brother Seth Yaqub, a co-accused in the scam.
In addition, pleas of Waseem Yaqoob and Saleem Yaqoob regarding return of principal amount were also dismissed. The bench directed the counsel for Sheikh Afzal to approach the competent authorities under Section 25 of the NAB Ordinance for disposal of properties. Dr Abdul Basit, counsel for Sheikh Afzal, contended that his client admitted to have taken loan from the BoP in the name of his family members and was ready to return the same amount.
He said BoP was not a genuine bank, if it had been so, it would not have asked NAB and FIA to recover the amount. Rather it would have asked me directly to return the loan money. The BoP and NAB also tried to create rifts among brothers especially between his client and Seth Nisar, another accused of the scam. He said both institutions were corrupt and prayed that they should not be associated with disposal of properties.
AK Dogar, counsel for Seth Yaqub, argued that confession in police custody was never regarded as voluntarily even if it was made before a court of magistrate. He said two sons of his client were subjected to police torture for making confession.
He maintained that they had obtained a loan of Rs 1.2 billion from Sheikh Afzal and it would be a case of total injustice if mark-up amount was demanded from him. It should be demanded from Sheikh Afzal as he had borrowed money from BoP, he added. "Being in possession of stolen property is not an offence. My client is not an accomplice in the crime," he said. Dogar said Section 25 of NAB Ordinance did not apply to his client as it dealt with a person who committed a crime.
Ahmed Zuberi, deputy prosecutor NAB, rejected the claim of police torture. About repatriation of Hamesh Khan, former head of BoP and main accused, Zuberi said he was transferred from Washington to New York as no national carrier was directly operating from Washington. He said they were waiting for issuance of arrest warrants by Deputy Secretary of US State Department, which would be done within a few days. Shair Muhammad, Foreign Office legal advisor, told the court that they had deputed their official to facilitate the process of taking Hamesh into custody. The court adjourned hearing till May 10.
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