SC dismisses NAB appeal against SHC decision on bank defaulters

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court said Thursday that references against bank defaulters had been pending with the National Accountability Bureau for seven years but no progress was made on them yet.

The court dismissed the NAB appeal seeking cancelation of bails granted to bank defaulters in different cases and upheld the verdict of the Sindh High Court. A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Umer Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah heard the NAB appeal against the verdict of Sindh High Court.

The court issued notices to the parties after separating bail applications in different cases. “There is no possibility of bail cancellation in the instant matter”, Chief Justice Umer Ata Bandial ruled, adding that references against the bank defaulters have been pending with the NAB for seven years.

The CJP said that the defaulters had paid Rs9 crore to the State Bank of Pakistan after making a settlement hence there was no possibility of cancelling their bails. In 2015, the State Bank of Pakistan had sent a reference to the anti-graft body against the bank defaulters. In 2017, the Sindh High Court had granted them bails with the NAB moving the Supreme Court against the decision.

During the course of hearing Thursday, Justice Qazi Faez Isa admonished the NAB prosecutor for not appearing before the court well prepared. The judge said a settlement had been reached between the State Bank and the defaulters.

“Under what authority the anti-graft body wants to continue the matter after the settlement”, Justice Isa said. The judge asked if there was any law point or the anti-graft body was just focusing on verbal submissions. The prosecutor said that the instant matter should be adjudicated upon and pleaded for cancelling the bails of the accused. “But you are a lawyer and you should at least know the basic legal procedure as well”, Justice Isa told the prosecutor. “This is a court and here the decision could be given only after opening the legal book and after understanding the matter”, Justice Isa said, adding that the court cannot hear verbal submissions of the anti-graft body. The counsel for the State Bank said that the NAB was hindering the settlement between the parties concerned.

Meanwhile, Chief Justice Umer Ata Bandial said that the defaulters had entered into a settlement and paid Rs 9 crore to the State Bank. “There is no possibility of cancellation of bails granted to the accused persons”, the CJP said and dismissed the NAB appeal.