August 07, 2008	Thursday	Sha’aban 4, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Aug 6: The Supreme Court on Wednesday decided to jointly hear two petitions, one filed by the Haris Steel Industries and the other by Hamesh Khan, former president of the Bank of Punjab, seeking transfer of a case about a Rs9 billion scam to the apex court from the Lahore High Court (LHC).

A Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Faqir Mohammad Khokhar adjourned the matter for Aug 19 with an observation that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) could continue its inquiry into the allegation of fraud.

The court decided to hear the petitions jointly when Advocate Ahmer Bilal Soofi, representing Hamesh Khan, said his client had moved a fresh application requesting transfer of the case from the LHC.

The Supreme Court had ordered the arrest of two NAB officers for showing contempt to the court by beating and humiliating an accused within the court premises on July 24. The officers were released when they tendered an apology.

Counsel Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada, Wasim Sajjad, former prosecutors general of the NAB Irfan Qadir and Naveed Rasool Mirza and Senator Babar Awan had filed a petition in the apex court on behalf of the Haris Steel Industries pleading for shifting the case by exercising powers conferred to it through PO No5 of 2007 by President Pervez Musharraf.

The powers were delegated to the Supreme Court by amending Article 186-A of the Constitution to transfer any pending case from any high court to its own file.

The petitioners had prayed that they did not expect justice from the high court because it was situated in Punjab under the influence of Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif and Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

Despite earlier directions of the high court not to harass the accused and not to raid the industries, the NAB had seized in a raid fake national identity cards, documents of fake companies and land collaterals, stock exchange business documents worth Rs4 billion, shares worth Rs300 million and Rs14 million in cash.

On July 15, the high court had refused to proceed with the matter. On Wednesday, Ahmer Bilal Soofi contended that his client was still the legal president of the bank because he had not been removed although he was not being allowed to enter the premises.

He alleged that a campaign had been launched by the provincial government and the chief minister to harass Hamesh Khan and make him provide details of account holders belonging to different political parties.

Advocate Soofi said that the governor of State Bank had been pressurised to take action against the Bank of Punjab and its president and the NAB was being compelled to do the same.

He said the corruption reference had been referred to the NAB by the president himself who had removed five senior members. Moreover, he said, there was no default on the day when Mr Khan was denied entry to his office.