Judgment reserved on Anwar Majeed’s bail plea

Anwar Majeed had requested the court to grant him bail on medical grounds


Saqib Bashir May 21, 2020
Anwar Majeed. PHOTO: FILE

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday reserved the judgment on the bail application of Omni Group chairman Khawaja Anwar Majeed – main accused in the fake bank accounts case.

Majeed had requested the court to grant him bail on medical grounds.

A division bench of the IHC comprising Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Justice Lubna Saleem Pervaiz heard the case.

At the outset of the hearing, the accused counsel informed the court that the health of 77-year-old Majeed who had been admitted to a hospital in Karachi was not stable.

The lawyer said doctors had stated that Majeed’s treatment was not possible in Pakistan due to the unavailability of medical facilities and that he should undergo heart surgery either in the United States or the United Kingdom.

He further said that the spread of Covid-19 posed danger to his client’s life.

On being enquired, NAB prosecutor Barrister Rizwan told the court that the reference against the accused had been filed but the charge could not be framed due to his conduct.

Justice Kayani asked whether Majeed’s name was mentioned in any other reference to which the NAB prosecutor replied in affirmative but stated that the accused was had not been arrested.

He told the court that Majeed’s bail application had also been rejected in the past.

“The bail petition which was refused in the past had [mentioned] the same medical condition. There is nothing new in his current application,” he said.

The prosecutor questioned how could the accused travel to the US or UK if he was not able to come to Islamabad.

The court reserved the verdict on bail plea after the completion of the arguments.

The fake bank accounts case involves alleged money laundering worth billions of rupees through 29 accounts, which were found opened in three banks.

The Federal Investigation Agency had named Asif Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur, Anwar Majeed, his sons, and over 10 others as suspects in an interim charge sheet filed in a banking court in August 2018.

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