The Supreme Court has said it would give its verdict on the Rs 9 billion Bank of Punjab loan scam case today (Wednesday). A three-member Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Tariq Parvez and Justice Amir Hani Muslim said on Tuesday that about ten various miscellaneous applications on the matter would be decided today (Wednesday). Appearing on notice, Raja Amir Abbas, the deputy prosecutor general of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), informed the court that the bureau’s work had been badly affected due to the vacant seats of the NAB chairman and prosecutor general.
He said Haris Steel Mills’ role in the Rs 9 billion BoP scam was just one chapter, adding that several other chapters had to be unearthed. Abbas said, “We are unable to do anything as there is no NAB chairman and prosecutor general.” The chief justice observed that there were so many talented officers in the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) who could be assigned the task of investigating the BoP loan scam. Khawaja Haris, BoP’s lawyer, informed the court that a negative campaign had been launched by the owner of Haris Steel Mills Haris Afzal to tarnish the bank’s image, which he should be barred from.
