TDAP scam: Ex-PM Gilani granted protective bail in 8 cases
Counsel claims his client is a victim of political rivalry.
Former Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani makes victory sign when Islamabad high court grant him 7 days proactive bail in TDAP corruption case. PHOTO: INP
ISLAMABAD:
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday granted protective bail for seven days to former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in eight cases related to a multibillion-rupee trade subsidy scam. Justice Noorul Haq Qureshi granted the bail against a surety of Rs100,000 for each of the eight cases.
“Gilani fears the FIA or another law enforcement agency will arrest him if he travels to Karachi to turn himself in,” his counsel Farooq Naek told the court. He said that an anti-corruption court in Karachi has issued non-bailable warrants for his client’s arrest in eight FIRs.
Gilani and others are facing trial in connection with major irregularities in granting freight subsidies to fake trading companies by the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) while misusing their official positions.
The FIA had booked PPP leaders Gilani and Makhdoom Amin Fahim as well as some TDAP officials for their alleged involvement in the approval and disbursement of fraudulent trade subsidies worth billions of rupees to several fake companies through fictitious claims and backdated cheques during the previous tenure of the PPP government.
Naek told the court that Gilani’s name was not mentioned in any of the FIRs, adding that the FIA had put down Gilani as one of the accused in the charge sheet submitted later in the anti-corruption court. “All the cases have been registered under the same charges.” He claimed that Gilani’s name was incorporated in the charge sheets due to political rivalry and to humiliate as well as cause irreparable damage to the name and reputation of the petitioner.
“The petitioner is gravely apprehensive that he would be tortured by the FIA to make a statement after his arrest against his party colleagues,” Naek stated in the petition.
After he was granted bail, Gilani told the media that the FIA could not take any action without the consent of the government, implying that the PML-N government had a role to play in action taken against him. “There was not a single political prisoner during my government and no one was politically victimised.”
Flanked by lawyers and supporters, the former premier lamented that while he was at the IHC, another case was registered against him. He sought bail in the latest case as well, but the hearing for it is scheduled for Wednesday.
Around 70 cases pertaining to the trade subsidy scam against the former chairmen, former chief executive and other senior officials of the TDAP and other accused are pending in court. Gilani and his cabinet colleague have so far been named in 21 cases.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 2nd, 2015.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday granted protective bail for seven days to former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in eight cases related to a multibillion-rupee trade subsidy scam. Justice Noorul Haq Qureshi granted the bail against a surety of Rs100,000 for each of the eight cases.
“Gilani fears the FIA or another law enforcement agency will arrest him if he travels to Karachi to turn himself in,” his counsel Farooq Naek told the court. He said that an anti-corruption court in Karachi has issued non-bailable warrants for his client’s arrest in eight FIRs.
Gilani and others are facing trial in connection with major irregularities in granting freight subsidies to fake trading companies by the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) while misusing their official positions.
The FIA had booked PPP leaders Gilani and Makhdoom Amin Fahim as well as some TDAP officials for their alleged involvement in the approval and disbursement of fraudulent trade subsidies worth billions of rupees to several fake companies through fictitious claims and backdated cheques during the previous tenure of the PPP government.
Naek told the court that Gilani’s name was not mentioned in any of the FIRs, adding that the FIA had put down Gilani as one of the accused in the charge sheet submitted later in the anti-corruption court. “All the cases have been registered under the same charges.” He claimed that Gilani’s name was incorporated in the charge sheets due to political rivalry and to humiliate as well as cause irreparable damage to the name and reputation of the petitioner.
“The petitioner is gravely apprehensive that he would be tortured by the FIA to make a statement after his arrest against his party colleagues,” Naek stated in the petition.
After he was granted bail, Gilani told the media that the FIA could not take any action without the consent of the government, implying that the PML-N government had a role to play in action taken against him. “There was not a single political prisoner during my government and no one was politically victimised.”
Flanked by lawyers and supporters, the former premier lamented that while he was at the IHC, another case was registered against him. He sought bail in the latest case as well, but the hearing for it is scheduled for Wednesday.
Around 70 cases pertaining to the trade subsidy scam against the former chairmen, former chief executive and other senior officials of the TDAP and other accused are pending in court. Gilani and his cabinet colleague have so far been named in 21 cases.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 2nd, 2015.