SHC turns down bail pleas of NBP ex-president, others in Rs18.5bn graft case

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M Shaikh was hearing post-arrest bail pleas moved by the accused were apprehended by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) outside the SHC on its directives.

Earlier on September 22, the SHC had revoked the interim pre-arrest bails granted to Raza, Zubair Ahmed, Imran Butt and Muhammad Waseem.

The counsel of NBP ex-president submitted that his client was not involved in corruption as he remained the chief for a very little period.

The counsel informed the judges that Raza was going through mental stress, adding that he would get heart disease, if not released.

While denying all the charges, the counsel of other accused persons also requested the court to release them on bail.

On the other hand, the NAB prosecutor opposed the pleas and submitted that there were sufficient evidences against the accused.

According to the NAB, the accused persons in connivance with each other had caused a loss of billions of rupees to the national exchequer through their corrupt practices in the NBP Bangladesh operations.

The corruption watchdog maintained that irregularities were revealed in audit report of 2009 and State Bank of Pakistan former governor had also complained regarding the malpractices committed by NBP officials.

Besides the Pakistanis, some Bangladeshi citizens were also involved in the corruption, but they are still to be arrested, the NAB added.

After hearing the arguments from both sides, the bench declined the bail applications.

It was pertinent to mention here that the SHC had earlier dismissed their pre-arrest bail pleas and subsequently, they were arrested by the NAB.