Embezzlement of Rs 560 million: SC rejects pre-arrest bail of Punjab Highway Department's officials

The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected pleas for bail before arrest filed by five officials of Punjab Highways Department allegedly involved in embezzlement of Rs 560 million. Following the rejection of their bail by the apex court, Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE), Punjab arrested the accused.
The ACE had registered a case against five officials of the Punjab Highways Department including XENs Iftikhar Hussain and Abdul Latif Bhatti, SDOs Anwar Hayat and Nazir Bhatti for misappropriation of Rs 560 million in construction of roads. All the accused filed pre-arrest bail applications in the Lahore High Court (LHC) that dismissed the pleas to which a lawyer panel led by Advocate Anwarul Haq Pannu reportedly helped the accused to flee from the court premises as the ACE officers failed to arrest them on November 26, 2014. On Tuesday, a three-judge bench led by Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk rejected the pre-arrest bails of the accused by dismissing their appeals in the matter.