SC dismisses NAB appeal against acquittal of accused

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) plea against acquittal of a bank cashier in a corruption case.

The trial court had awarded some 30 months imprisonment to a local bank cashier Sabir in 2008 over allegations of corruption and a failed attempt of robbery in the bank in 2004. The accused remained in jail for 34 months, four months extra in jail when he was acquitted by the Peshawar High Court (PHC) for lack of evidence. Later, NAB challenged his acquittal in the SC.

A three-member SC bench by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa and comprising Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, which heard the case, maintained the PHC verdict dismissing NAB's appeal.

During the course of proceedings, the chief justice remarked that according to the high court verdict there was no solid evidence against the accused. He observed that bank branches prepared cash balance sheets on daily basis.