Court issues arrest warrants for Farzana Raja in BISP reference

ISLAMABAD: An Accountability Court (AC) on Wednesday issued arrest warrants against PPP's leader Farzana Raja for disappearance and ordered to initiate proceeding to declare her as absconder in reference pertaining to corruption in Benazir Income Support Program (BISP).

The court also rejected the request of ex-chairman BISP Farzana Raja for exemption from hearing.

AC-III Judge Syed Asghar Ali heard the graft reference against the accused filed by National Accountability Bureau. The court also issued non bailable arrest warrants against the accused Raja Abdul Munaf in the case.

The court stated that Farzana Raja did not attend the proceeding since the reference was filed against her and had been obtaining exemptions through applications for one year.

The court summoned all accused on May 24, for indictment.

It may be mentioned here that Farzana Raja was shifted to United States (US) ten year back.

In March last year, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed a reference against alleged corruption in the BISP.

The Program was instituted to provide relief to the under-served communities across Pakistan.

Within a few years after its establishment, under the stewardship of Farzana Raja, a discrepancy of Rs 4.8 billion was discovered for the year 2012-13 owed to the awarding of unlawful contracts based on unfair practices.

In one case, a contract worth Rs 2.74 billion was awarded without adherence to the rules of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority.