Embezzlement charges: Court returns Raisani’s plea bargain application

NAB to present its report in two days

QUETTA: An accountability court on Monday returned the plea bargain application of former finance secretary Balochistan Mushtaq Raisani following his offer to return Rs2 billion to the national exchequer.

Judge Abdul Majeed Nasar returned the agreement application with some objections after hearing the investigation officer and arguments of the prosecutor.

According to NAB sources, at least four objections were raised by the court. The NAB spokesman said the bureau will submit the report to the accountability court within two days.

On December 30, an accountability court asked the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) investigation officer and prosecutor to submit records regarding former finance secretary Raisani’s plea bargain agreement.

NAB’s office in Balochistan announced on December 23 that it intended to file references against Raisani and a contractor Sohail Majeed Shah despite approval of a plea bargain deal with the accused in a mega corruption case.

Earlier, the top anti-graft watchdog accepted the accused’s plea bargain applications after they offered to return Rs2 billion to the national exchequer.

Raisani was taken into custody on May 6, 2016 after a NAB team recovered sensitive documents and Rs603 million in cash in a raid at his residence. On May 9, NAB arrested government official Sohail Majeed for allegedly facilitating Raisani.

According to NAB authorities, Raisani and contractor Sohail Majeed had submitted plea bargain applications which were approved in NAB’s executive board meeting.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 3^rd, 2017.