SC expresses displeasure over loans waived on political grounds

Top judge demanded a summary of all such loans to be submitted in a week

The Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar on Thursday vowed to return loans waived on political grounds and said those who fail to return the money, there assets will be seized.

The chief justice further ordered a summary of all such loans to be submitted in a week's time. The CJP also expressed concern over the length of the case as it's been pending for 11 years.



During the hearing of the case, the petitioner said that ousted premier Nawaz Sharif, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, Junejo, Yousuf Raza Gillani and others got their loans waived off. The counsel for National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) further informed the court that the SC formed a commission to investigate the entire scandal.

The lawyer also added that the loans were pardoned on directives by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and added that the court can deliver a verdict based solely on the report by Justice Jamshed.

Justice Nisar further said that loans worth Rs5.4 billion have been written off. NBP's lawyer said that the commission had labelled the writing off of loans as a case of the past. At this, the CJP replied that he is going to dig up old cases, and added that no investigation was carried after the report came out.

The additional attorney general also informed the court that almost 223 cases which were written off appeared suspect.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi criticised ‘those’ who opposed the newly introduced amnesty scheme and tax reforms, and challenged them to reveal their own tax filings, taking a direct jibe at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan.

PTI rejected the government’s new amnesty scheme allowing Pakistanis to remit offshore wealth at only two per cent tax rate. The party chief Imran Khan termed the amnesty scheme a brazen attempt by Prime Minister Abbasi to save criminals.



Speaking at an inaugural event in Kharan, Balochistan, the premier explained the significance of the scheme. “A historic step was taken in the form of the tax reform,” he said. “The aim of this scheme is to unite everyone to jointly pay taxes which are possible for everyone.”