ISLAMABAD  -    The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has turned down bail pleas of former chairman Pakistan Stock Exchange Hussain Lawai and senior vice-president of Summit Bank Taha Raza in fake bank accounts case.

A two-member bench of IHC comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani conducted hearing of the bail applications and rejected the same after hearing arguments of all the sides.

The bench remarked that the applications were not on merit even on medical grounds. The bench said that prima facie the accused had a link with the case as they had been serving on important posts.

The judgment stated that corruption had taken root in society like cancer. It added that if effective measures are not taken to curb it then the consequences will be devastating for the country.

The bench further said that massive organised corruption has been shattering the economy of the state. It is the fundamental duty of the courts to stop the menace of corruption, the verdict maintained.

Lawai moved the court through his counsel Syed Hamid Ali Shah Advocate and cited state, chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Prosecutor General NAB as respondents.

In his petition, he stated that the case against him is false, frivolous and politically motivated. “The investigating agency being motivated by malice, initiated the process of inquiry/ investigation without any reasonable or probable cause,” added the petition.

The petitioner maintained that the accounts opened, maintained and operated in other banks in the identical manner remained subject matter of the investigation and enquiry, no other banker similarly placed and was implicated in the FIR.

He continued that other co-accused in the case including Shahzad Ali, Zain Malik, Ali Malik Majeed and others filed the application under section 91 Cr.P.C for furnishing the surety bonds and undertook to appear before the court and the same was permitted.

Lawai contended that the inquiry and investigation of this case has not been conducted in a just, fair and impartial manner. “The arrest of the petitioner was carried out despite the absence of sufficient grounds to proceed against him. This by itself speaks volumes about the malicious conduct of the investigating agency,” he added.

According to the petition, “The petitioner has no nexus with the process of accounts opening, deposits, transfers, withdrawals of funds or any other transactions of cash handling in respect of alleged fake account(s). The petitioner was unaware of any transaction in the said accounts and by virtue of his position in the bank and job assignment, he had no involvement in the routine business of the branches.”

The petition further said that he is not, therefore, privy and party to any of the alleged offences and cannot be treated as an abettor or facilitator for the acts which were discernibly performed at the branch level.

Therefore, he prayed to the court to accept the present petition and grant him bail during pendency of trial.