KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday granted interim pre-arrest bail to former National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) president in a Rs17 billion corruption case.
A two-judge bench, headed by Justice Salahuddin Panhwar, approved the bail for Syed Ali Raza against Rs500,000 surety bonds. It adjourned the hearing till April 20 for confirmation of the bail or otherwise.
The former NBP president approached the high court fearing his arrest by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in connection with an inquiry regarding corruption in the NBP in Bangladesh.
The petitioner’s lawyer said that the inquiry related to two bank employees, Zubair Ahmed and SM Jahanzeb, who were involved in illegal activities overseas, which had caused losses worth Rs17 billion to the national exchequer.
Raza denied his involvement in the scam, saying that being the president of the bank he was reliant on the group chiefs, who were supposed to check any irregularity on the part of 16,000 employees of the bank.
However, he told the judges that on August 21, 2015, the NAB investigation officer had issued him a call-up notice to appear for investigation despite the fact he had left the organisation on January 14, 2011.
The petitioner apprehended he might be arrested, therefore, he requested for grant of pre-arrest bail.
