July 10, 2007	Tuesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 24, 1428

LAHORE, July 9: Justice Khwaja Muhammad Sharif of the Lahore High Court on Monday rejected the bail plea of stage and TV artist Salomi Rana involved in a Rs5 million fraud.

The accused who was present in the courtroom was arrested by police.

Rana had secured bail from a judicial magistrate although her request had already been rejected by a three-member Supreme Court bench. Justice Sharif regretted that the magistrate had not bothered to go through the SC order.

According to the judge, the accused was summoned served several summons during the last three months but she never appeared before the court.

During the hearing, Justice Sharif said the accused had tried to influence the court through various people. “But, I am here to do justice because I will be buried in my own grave. This world may forget (my mistakes) but that will not be the case in the life hereafter.”

According to the prosecution, Zeeshan Bhatti, Salomi Rana’s husband, was employed at PaceBaraka, a real estate firm owned by Asad Saleem. Mr Saleem gave Rs5 million cheque drawn on Citibank to Mr Bhatti, for depositing it with the company’s account. But he deposited it with the account of his wife in Samanabad HBL branch, says an FIR registered with the Samanabad police station on Dec 12, 2006.

For two days Bhatti did not attend his office on the pretext that his wife and her sister were sick and he was with them in Sialkot. In the meantime, Salomi Rana drew the amount from her account, the FIR adds.