Bank of Punjab scam: Supreme Court seeks reasons behind delay in recovery of money

The Supreme Court on Monday sought a report from the relevant authorities on reasons behind the delay in the recovery of the defaulted amount from owners of Haris Steel Mills and others in three days. Resuming hearing of the Bank of Punjab multi-billion rupee scam case, a two-judge bench of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and Justice Jawwad S Khawaja questioned the performance of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the instant matter.
The counsel for Sheikh Afzal apprised the bench that his client''s property in Dubai had been sold by a third party and requested the court to direct the NAB to probe the matter. The Chief Justice expressed surprise as to how the sale of property worth more than Rs 1.5 billion could be achieved without the owner''s consent.
The counsel urged the court to direct the NAB to issue the agreed schedule under plea-bargain of repayment of the outstanding amount from his client. He added that Afzal has paid more than fifty percent of the loan to the bank so far. Criticising the NAB, the Chief Justice remarked that the Bureau''s performance within the country was in question and challenged its capacity to undertake investigations abroad.
The Chief Justice observed that the principal accused, namely the former President of the Bank of Punjab Hamesh Khan, as well as owner of Haris Steel Mills could not be kept in jail indefinitely. He further said that people had lost faith in state institutions such as NAB and according to newspaper, the Federal Investigation Agency''s performance was also in question. The court adjourned hearing till October 25.