Hajj corruption case: IHC rejects bail plea of Rao Shakeel

FIA objects to the request for bail, says former DG Hajj had misused his powers.

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court rejected bail plea of former DG Hajj Rao Shakeel on Friday in the 2010 Hajj corruption case, Express News reported.

Justice Muhammad Anwar Khan Kasi heard the bail request today.

During the proceeding, Shakeel’s counsel argued that his client has been detained for last two years and that the prosecution is responsible for the delay in the case not his client.

He further said that main accused Hamid Saeed Kazmi - former federal minister for religious affairs - was also released on bail.

Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) lawyer Chaudhry Zulfiqar objected to the request, saying that Shakeel had misused his powers.

Earlier, the agency had also asked the court to cancel the bail of Kazmi for influencing witnesses in the case.

Kazmi, Shakeel and former additional secretary to ministry of religious affairs Raja Aftabul Islam were accused of indulging in widespread corruption during the course of renting residential buildings for Pakistani pilgrims in Saudi Arabia and inflicting a loss of a billion rupees to the national exchequer. Most of the buildings rented by the Hajj administrators were five kilometres away from the Haram Sharif, while according to law the accommodation for Hajjis should not be more than two kilometres away.