Rao Shakeel was arrested in 2011 and indicted for conspiracy, fraud, forgery, breach of trust by a public servant and causing loss to the national exchequer. PHOTO: FILE
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday dismissed the bail plea of a former Hajj director general who is an accused in the 2010 Hajj scam.
IHC Chief Justice Muhammad Anwar Khan Kasi rejected the bail application filed by Rao Shakeel and observed that proceedings in the case are moving towards conclusion and the accused is not entitled to get bail at this late stage.
Rao Shakeel was arrested in 2011 and indicted for conspiracy, fraud, forgery, breach of trust by a public servant and causing loss to the national exchequer. According to the Federal Investigation Agency, Rao Shakeel had received 5.1 million Saudi Riyals as kickbacks during the arrangements of Hajj 2010 and arranged for substandard residential buildings in Makkah and Madinah at exorbitant rates for pilgrims.
On behalf of the accused, Advocate Sheikh Ahsanuddin maintained that his client has been behind the bar since 2011 due to the sluggishness of proceedings in Hajj case trial. He argued that the trial court had granted bail to former religious minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi — a co-accused — yet Shakeel’s bail plea was rejected on October 17, 2012.
The Supreme Court took suo motu notice in December 2010 on corruption allegations regarding Hajj arrangements and later turned the case over to the court of a special judge central.
During the proceedings, FIA Special Prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ahmed informed the court that 47 witnesses had recorded their statements before the court and six witnesses still remain. He claimed that the delay tactics employed by the accused were behind the slow pace of trial proceedings.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 9th, 2013.
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