PPP leaders Faryal Talpur, Khursheed Shah granted bail in NAB cases

[ghazi52]

PPP leaders Faryal Talpur, Khursheed Shah granted bail in NAB cases

December 17, 2019

Faryal Talpur is nominated in a case pertaining to money laundering through fake accounts, while Khursheed Shah is nominated in multiple corruption cases, including one of accumulation of assets beyond known means. — Dawn.com
PPP leader Faryal Talpur was granted bail by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday, in a case pertaining to money laundering through fake accounts which is being probed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

She was granted bail against surety bonds worth Rs10 million.

During today's hearing, the court asked NAB's additional prosecutor general Jahanzaib Bharwana if the bureau was done interrogating Talpur. Bharwana responded in the affirmative.

In response to the court's inquiry regarding Talpur's involvement in the case, NAB's counsel insisted that money, allegedly transferred to Zardari Group's bank account from a fake bank account, was withdrawn later by a cheque signed by Talpur.

NAB had taken the PPP leader into custody earlier this year to interrogate her in the case. She was kept in Adiala jail.

Talpur had filed a bail application earlier this month, maintaining that she is the mother of a differently-abled child. In order to care for her child, she asked the court to grant bail until the completion of the trail. Her appeal was meant to be heard last week but was adjourned until today as NAB had not submitted a response.

Her brother Asif Ali Zardari was also granted bail by the IHC last week on medical grounds.

Zardari, Talpur, and others accused face charges of corruption through fake bank accounts and embezzlement in the financial facility for Park Lane Private Limited and Parthenon (Pvt) Limited. NAB alleged that the national exchequer suffered a loss of Rs3.77 billion because of the irregularities.

Shah ordered to pay Rs5m for release
PPP stalwart Khursheed Shah was also released on bail by an accountability court in Sukkur, DawnNewsTV reported. The court ordered him to pay Rs5m in surety bonds for his release.

Shah was brought to the court via ambulance from the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) today after a five-day judicial remand granted to NAB expired.

NAB's prosecutor requested the court to grant a further remand of 15 days, but Shah's counsel and Senator Raza Rabbani argued that a 90-day period since his arrest had already lapsed without the anti-corruption body filing a reference or presenting any evidence to the court.

The prosecution, in response, said that a reference against 18 people, including had been prepared and had been submitted to NAB chairman retired justice Javed Iqbal which contains evidence implicating him in Rs1.24 billion worth of corruption.

The court granted Shah bail and warned him to appear before it when NAB submits the reference against him.

The PPP leader was arrested by NAB's Sukkur and Rawalpindi teams in September this year and was later shifted to Sukkur.

Multiple corruption cases against him are under investigation with NAB. In 2012, an accountability court had directed NAB to file a reference against him on a complaint pertaining to alleged accumulation of illegitimate assets.

In 2013, NAB had reopened two corruption cases against Shah under the directives of the Lahore High Court.

In July this year, the NAB chairman had approved nine inquiries against different personalities, including Shah.

 

[Crystal-Clear]

markhor ko bulao .

 

[El Sidd]

Government is sitting on a stockpile of JIT and Commission reports but owing to political blackmail it does not seek any action on those cases.

 

[delta2]

Hopefully a few other generals will also receive death penalties to knock some sense into the idiots at the helm of Pakistani deep state.

 

[muhammadhafeezmalik]

Supreme Court declares further detention of Khurshid Shah illegal ​

Supreme Court issues detailed verdict in Khurshid Shah bail case

The Supreme Court on Monday held that further detention of PPP stalwart Syed Khurshid Shah, who had remained incarcerated for over two years in a corruption reference, would be illegal and in breach of his fundamental rights when the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) lacked sufficient incriminating material against him.


“NAB has failed to point out any material, which could reasonably show that the properties alleged to be held by Khurshid Shah, in the name of other persons as his benamidar, are in his actual possession and that he received profits on those properties,” observed Syed Mansoor Ali Shah in a judgement he wrote.


A two-judge SC bench consisted of Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah had on Oct 21 last year granted bail to Khurshid Shah subject to furnishing bail bonds of Rs10 million with one surety in the like amount but with a condition that his name would remain on the Exit Control List.


NAB had arrested Mr Shah on Sept 18, 2019 from Islamabad where he had come to attend a session of the National Assembly. The bureau has alleged that the PPP stalwart, along with his wives and sons and his benamidar, owns and possesses assets that are disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Observes NAB has failed to provide sufficient incriminating material against PPP stalwart

The SC judgement also cited earlier directives that a number of factors should be considered before determining whether a particular transaction was benami in character. Yet the most crucial factor in the criminal law context is who is in actual possession, or control of possession, of the property and who receives the profits arising out of the property.


The verdict noted that NAB had failed to mention the assets possessed by Khurshid Shah and his family members as well as their sources of income which have now been collected but were not available with NAB in earlier investigation.


“Still we made a fresh tentative assessment in the interest of justice to satisfy whether there is incriminating material to provide reasonable grounds that the petitioner is guilty of the alleged offence,” the judgement said.


About the value of their assets/properties, the apex court observed that NAB determined it by rejecting the value mentioned in the registered sale deeds without any solid lawful basis, only to make a case that their assets were disproportionate to known sources of income. “What is more disturbing is that it has not been specified whether the value determined by NAB is that of the time when these properties were purchased or their current value,” the judgement said.


“Needless to mention that it is the value of the property at the time of its purchase which is to be compared with the known sources of income of the purchaser at the time of that purchase for determining whether or not the purchase of that property is disproportionate to his sources of income,” it added.


Further, Justice Shah observed, NAB had neither estimated the agricultural income of the petitioner in accordance with Rule 3 of the West Pakistan Land Revenue Assessment Rules 1968 nor included the same in his known sources of income.


“As for the transactions of amount credited and debited in the bank accounts of the petitioner and his family members, the petitioner has taken the stance that all these accounts were disclosed and accounted for in their annual income tax returns and declarations of assets and that NAB had not pointed out any material to rebut the stance of the petitioner.


“Thus there is no such tangible, sufficient incriminating material available on record of the case against the petitioner which would lead to inference of the guilt of the petitioner for commission of the offence alleged against him. Therefore, at this stage [there are] no reasonable grounds for believing that the petitioner is guilty of the alleged offence,” the judgement said.


It added: “While the petitioner is found entitled to the grant of bail on merits as discussed above, even as to the delay in conclusion of the trial he cannot be blamed therefore. The petitioner was arrested in the present case on Sept 18, 2019 and facing trial on an interim reference. Since his arrest, a period of more than two years has lapsed but NAB is yet to file the final reference, thus the conclusion of the trial is not in sight for no fault of the petitioner.”


The court observed that such a long delay did constitute “inordinate and unconscionable delay”, as held in the 2019 Talat Ishaq [case judgement], justifying the release on bail of the petitioner pending his trial even on this ground as well. It must be remembered that in criminal law, everybody including the co-accused, is liable only for his own acts and omissions, not of others, it added.


“Even otherwise, in a case where NAB has been unable to show sufficient incriminating material to the court to justify the detention of the accused, depriving the accused of his liberty and freedom even for a single day is, to say the least, unconscionable and below human dignity,” the judgement said.

Supreme Court declares further detention of Khurshid Shah illegal

Observes NAB has failed to provide sufficient incriminating material against PPP stalwart.

www.dawn.com