LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday granted bail to a man who languished in jail during the pendency of the trial in a sales tax fraud case beyond the maximum sentence (five years) of the offence.

The counsel for the man, Asif Ali Faiz, argued before the court that initially NAB had filed a reference against his client, however, the case was later referred to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for the trial under customs law.

He said the offence charged against the petitioner carried a maximum punishment of five-year imprisonment whereas the petitioner had already undergone six months beyond the maximum punishment and the trial was still pending.

The lawyer pointed out that two other suspects in the same case had already been released on bail.

The counsel for the customs department opposed the bail and stated that Rs110m were yet to be recovered from the suspects.

Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan observed that the petitioner had already undergone the sentence of the offence before the decision of the trial proceedings.

The judge granted bail to the petitioner, subject to furnishing bail bonds.

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2021