ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Saqib Nisar on Tuesday said that every looted penny of the nation will be recovered. This he remarked during the hearing of the case regarding written off loans worth 54 billion rupees in Islamabad.
The chief justice said he desires an amicable settlement of the matter. He offered the companies which got their loans written off two options. Three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar was hearing the case.
He said the companies can either opt for payment of seventy five percent of the primary amount or their cases will be referred to the banking courts. He said the amount so realized can be used to pay off the country’s debt.
Hearing another case pertaining to Bahria Town, Karachi, the bench asked the builder to stop receiving payments from allottees. It said the Supreme Court has opened an account and the allottees should deposit their installments in the said account.
Owner of Bahria Town Malik Riaz appeared before the court o and highlighted the steps taken by him in the real estate sector.
The Chief Justice said we respect the charity work of Bahria Town but action will be taken if proven that it executed projects on illegally occupied land.
Earlier on April 26, Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar announced that the loans which were written-off on the political basis, would be recovered at any cost.
Hearing the loan write-off case at the apex court, the top judge declared that the assets of the individuals who failed to pay back loans would be sold off for recovering the money and depositing it in the national kitty.
He inquired about the total amount which was not paid back to which the counsel for the private bank replied that Rs 54 billion was written off.
Barrister Zafarullah apprised the bench that Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif, Yousaf Raza Gillani, Chaudhry brothers and Muhammad Khan Junejo were among the defaulters. The CJP sought details of all those who took loans from government banks without paying back and asked for details of national and international bank accounts of the aforementioned Pakistanis.
The top judge also asked Governor Tariq Bajwa, Governor State Bank of Pakistan if there was a way to bring back the money stashed in offshore accounts. To this, the Governor replied that there was no such clause in the legal procedures. INP