ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court Monday rejected the bail plea of an accused allegedly involved in Rs6 billion money laundering.
A three-member bench, headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Gulzar Ahmed heard the case of Naresh Kumar and directed him to approach the trial court with complete documents.
The bench comprised Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan and Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel. Earlier, the trial court and the high court had rejected the bail of the accused. Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan asked what was the business of Naresh Kumar if such huge bank transactions were going on.
Syed Qalb-i-Hassan, counsel for the accused, said his client was involved in the rice business. Justice Ijaz said it was a transaction of more than Rs6 billion but there was no record of purchase.
The counsel said Naresh Kumar had been doing the rice business since 2012 and taking his commission. Justice Ijaz asked the counsel if was so, then why Naresh Kumar did not have the sale and purchase documents.
The counsel said the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had taken action against the money, which his client had received for the purchase of rice during 2012 to 2020. Justice Ijaz said he had heard that these were all fake accounts.
Addressing the counsel, Justice Ijaz said this was how electronic crimes happened. He asked what was the status of the trial, as the court had been given three months. Deputy Attorney General Asghar Ali said the charges had not been framed yet and it would be done in a couple of days.
The Chief Justice observed that all transactions were done from the same account. The counsel said the entire rice business in Sindh was run by the Hindu community.
The chief justice asked the counsel to show a single document mentioning that Mr. Kumar was involved in the rice business. Asghar Ali said the accused could not provide any document regarding his business.
“There was no evidence of such a large transaction that from whom rice was bought or sold,” he added. After hearing the arguments, the apex court dismissed the bail plea and disposed of the case. –