Man granted bail in sales tax fraud case

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday granted bail to a man who languished in jail during the pendency of the trial in a sales tax fraud case beyond the maximum sentence of five-year of the offence. A counsel for the suspect, Asif Ali Faiz, argued before the court that initially the NAB filed a reference against his client, however, the case was later referred to the FBR for the trial under customs law.

He said the offence charged against the petitioner carried a maximum punishment of five-year imprisonment. Whereas, he said, the petitioner had already undergone six months beyond the maximum punishment and the trial was still pending.

He pointed out that two other suspects in the same case had already been released on bail. A lawyer for the customs department opposed the bail and stated that Rs110 million were yet to be recovered from the suspect. Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan observed that the petitioner had already undergone the sentence of the offence before the decision of the trial proceedings. The judge granted bail to the petitioner subject to furnishing bail bonds.