A division bench of Lahore High Court here Monday suspended three years sentence (in absentia) of former PML-N MPA Sohail Zia Butt and granted him bail in two references made by National Accountability Bureau. The bench allowed bail in both references and also directed the accused/petitioner to deposit Rs 02 million in term of cash with the trial court.
This is the default amount on the basis of which the NAB had filed reference against the accused. The first reference filed during the regime of Pervez Musharraf accused Butt of 'embezzling' Rs 2 million which he allegedly received from National Industrial Finance Corporation (NIFC) under a deal to get Ahmad Mansion, The Mall, evacuated from the illegal occupants which he failed to honour. On the complaint of the Executive Officer of the Corporation, the reference was framed against Butt by the NAB.
Taking up second reference, the accountability court on September 03, 2010 had re-invoked the 2001 conviction against Butt when he was taken into custody by NAB after his arrest from near Kalma Chowk on September 01 against the warrants issued on January 12, 2001 by the court, for his non-appearance despite repeated notices.
The counsel of Sohail Zia argued that the NAB had made a bogus and fabricated reference against his client only to victimise him on orders of the then military regime and this was the reason that NAB was reluctant to show record to the court. He prayed to the court to go through the record of the case to see element of bogusness in the reference against his client.
The counsel said that his client was facing no charges of corruption, which fell in the ambience of NAB law. He said it was known to everyone that Butt was not in the country since May 13, 2000 as such no question of his receiving the notice or appearance before the court and whatever reports with respect to him were prepared by the NAB in that course were unauthentic and bogus and aimed at victimising him.