Court cancels suspect's bail in RDA graft case

Rawalpindi Accountability Court Judge Ejaz Ali on Tuesday cancelled the interim bail of an accused, Muhammad Jamal, in the Rs1.94 billion Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) fraud case and ordered his arrest in the courtroom.

However, the court confirmed the interim bail of co-accused Mubeen Taj. Both are brothers of a deceased RDA officer.

Prosecutor Sardar Tahir Ayub argued that massive corruption had been committed by illegally transferring government funds from RDA's official accounts into personal accounts of various individuals and companies. He said the accused were not entitled to leniency and that the embezzled amount must be recovered from them.

Counsel for Mubeen Taj contended that his client was implicated solely because of his relation to the late officer, adding that no funds were ever transferred into his account nor did he receive any cash payments.

The court found the argument convincing and confirmed his bail due to a lack of evidence.

However, it noted that large sums had been unlawfully transferred to Muhammad Jamal's account, leading to the cancellation of his bail and immediate arrest.

The investigating team has obtained a seven-day physical remand of the accused for further inquiry.