GUJRAT, Aug 30: The Chaudhris of Gujrat are defaulter of millions of rupees, Ahmad Mukhtar’s counsel who filed objections told the returning officer concerned on Friday.

According to sources, counsel Shaikh Rafiq of former minister Ahmad Mukhtar submitted objections against the Chaudhris, alleging that they were defaulters of the National Bank of Pakistan and the Bankers Equity Limited.

He said a loan of Rs38 million obtained from the NBP in the name of the Punjab Sugar Mills, Mian Channu, by Shujaat Husain, Pervez Elahi and Wajahat Husain was written off through illegal means in 1999. Earlier, the Chaudhris were declared defaulters by the bank but, later, the loan was written off, he alleged.

Similarly, a defaulted amount of Rs208 million, obtained by them for the mills, was written off by the then chief executive of the BEL, he further alleged.

He said the deputy governor of the State Bank had filed a reference against BEL chief executive Rauf B. Qadri, who had been sentenced by NAB in several corruption cases.

The 15th segment of the reference sent by the State Bank revealed that Rauf Qadri had written off the defaulted amount of the Chaudhris by adopting a wrong and illegal channel, he alleged.

Meanwhile, sources told Dawn that the charges levelled by Mukhtar’s counsel were an outcome of a case filed by Shujaat’s counsel who had alleged that Ahmad Mukhtar was the guarantor of a person who owed Rs2.9 million to the Small Business Finance Corporation.

When contacted, Ahmad Mukhtar said he was a co-guarantor of Chaudhry Shabbir Nat (late) whose loan was no more than Rs290,000 which could not be declared as a defaulted amount.

The returning officer is likely to announce a final decision in this regard on Saturday.