Corruption: NAB gets last chance to file reply on Qasim case

Qasim Zia’s lawyer says NAB has failed to produce evidence against him

LAHORE: Lahore High Court on Monday gave the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) a last opportunity to submit a reply on the bail petition filed by Pakistan Peoples Party leader Qasim Zia in a stock exchange corruption case. A division bench of the LHC, headed by Justice Mahmood Maqbool Bajwa, took up the case for hearing. The bench observed that Zia’s bail plea would be decided before Eid.

This is third time the court has directed NAB officials to submit a reply in the case but no one has appeared before the court in this regard. The court adjourned hearing until September 23.

Zia had filed the bail application through Barrister Ali Zafar. He said that NAB officials had falsely implicated him in a fraud case. He said he had left the company that had committed the fraud. He also said that NAB officials had obtained his 16-day physical remand but could find no evidence of his involvement in the matter. The petitioner requested the court to order his release on bail. Earlier, an accountability court had sent Zia to jail on a 14-day judicial remand and turned down a request by NAB officials for further physical remand.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 18^th,  2015.