LAHORE – The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday sought reply from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) director general (DG) on a petition filed by Pir Syed Sibtul Hassan Gilani alias Double Shah seeking directions to NAB to decide his application for reduction of surety bonds from Rs 3 billion to 100 million to finalise his plea bargain. A division bench consisting of Justice Sheikh Ahmad Farooq and Justice Yawar Ali issued the order on a petition filed by Double Shah submitting that he was arrested on April 28, 2007 on allegations of cheating the public at large and depriving them of money.
He submitted that the NAB DG filed a reference against him in November 2007 in a Lahore accountability court and according to investigation, 4,411 people, including 126 agents, have submitted claims for Rs 5.4 billion. The petitioner said that he moved an application in 2009 for plea bargaining, which was conditionally accepted by the NAB DG and presented in an accountability court for approval but the court could not decide the matter despite lapse of 11 months. Double Shah submitted that on LHC orders, the case was transferred to another court, which approved the plea bargain on condition that the petitioner would submit a demand note favouring the NAB chairman, personal guarantee, property surety bonds and post dated cheques worth Rs 3 billion.
The petitioner submitted that he had fulfilled all conditions except submitting property surety bonds worth Rs 3 billion, which he tried his level best to comply but due to prolong incarnation, he was not in a position to arrange guarantee of land property. He said that he had moved an application to the NAB chairman for reduction of surety bonds from Rs 3 billion to 100 million but no decision has been made on the application until now, which has delayed finalisation of the plea bargain.
