Cheque fraud: NAB court sends case back

FIR says Rs998,000 paid for two Suzuki Mehran cars that were never delivered.

LAHORE: An accountability court judge has refused to entertain a case forwarded by District and Session Judge Mujahid Mustaqeem Ahmed, on the grounds that the law doesn’t allow the sessions judge to transfer a case from a judicial magistrate to an accountability court. According to an FIR registered at Sattukatla police station, Azhar Hussain paid Usman Yousaf Rs998,000 for two Suzuki Mehran cars that were supposed to be delivered on January 30, 2010, but the cars were never delivered. Yousaf gave Hussain a cheque for the money, but it bounced.  The case came up before a judicial magistrate, who sent it to Judge Ahmed, who then forwarded it to the accountability court. In its order on Wednesday, Accountability Court II court stated that under the National Accountability Ordinance 1999, cases could be transferred to the courts only by the National Accountability Bureau chairman or the Lahore High Court. The case file was sent back to the district and sessions judge for further orders.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 31^st, 2012.