LAHORE: A Lahore High Court (LHC) division bench granted bail to Farooq Nool, an alleged blackmailer in a case pertaining to defrauding the general public.
The bench directed Farooq Nool to submit two surety bonds of Rs 500,000 for availing the relief.
The bench headed by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi heard the post-arrest bail petition of the accused.
During the hearing, National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) prosecutor submitted that a reference had been filed against the accused in accountability court. He submitted that the accused and his wife defrauded the innocent citizens.
At this, the bench observed that it was not satisfied with the NAB investigations in the case whereas the matter did not fall under the NAB jurisdiction. The NAB had filed a reference against the accused, whether the accused had any public office, the court questioned.
The prosecutor submitted that the accused defrauded innocent citizens and their statements were on record against him.
However, the defence counsel denied the charges leveled against his client, saying that his client was not involved in any blackmailing activity.
He pleaded with the bench for granting bail to his client.
The bench after hearing arguments of all parties granted bail to the accused with a direction to submit surety bonds for the purpose.
The NAB had filed a reference in an accountability court against Farooq Nool and his wife Tayyaba Farooq.
The 630-page reference states that the accused, along with their accomplices used to defraud innocent people impersonating officials of secret agencies and NAB.
It said the investigation revealed that Farooq in connivance with his wife lured and defrauded six complainants, including Hadayat Ullah, Saba Hamid, Safdar Hussain, Muhammad Asif, Muhammad Zahid Iqbal and Niaz Ahmed.
They collected millions of rupees from them through corrupt, dishonest and illegal practices and hence gained illegal monetary advantage.
APP