A division bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) here on Thursday issued notice for July 13 to National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in a bail petition of Sheikh Afzal of Haris Steels Mill, involved in Bank of Punjab loan scam. Former federal law minister Babar Awan advanced his arguments on behalf of the accused and said his client was behind the bars for one year and seven months but the trial was not completed.
He said his client had been appeared before trial court on 56 hearings but no charge was framed on him yet. Awan argued that under article 25 of the constitution all citizens were equal before the law, but his client was being treated discriminatory. He pointed out that after recent amendment in criminal procedure code (Cr.P.C), an accused becomes eligible for the grant of bail after languishing two years in jail without framing of charges and conclusion of trial.
Last month, the same bench had dismissed bail petitions of Hamesh Khan, BoP ex-president and Sheikh Afzal. The NAB filed a reference on September 27, 2007, against 12 people, including six officials of Bank of Punjab and six other accused in Rs 9 billion fraud. After the filing of reference, name of the Hamesh was put on exit control list, however, on March 27, 2008, he managed to flee the country. Hamesh was arrested in US following Pakistan's request to the Interpol and was extradited to Pakistan. Accused Sheikh Afzal sought concession of bail, as he was falsely involved in the case.