LAHORE – The Lahore High Court on Wednesday issued a notice to Justice (r)Javed Iqbal, the head of Pakistan’s top anti-corruption watchdog, orderinghim to submit his reply on a bail petition of an alleged blackmailer in acase pertaining to defrauding the general public.
The LHC bench, comprising Justice Baqar Ali Najafi and Justice Sardar AhmedNaeem, heard the petition filed by Farooq Nol, who allegedly blackmailedand defrauded innocent people along with his wife Tayyaba Gull.
Gull is the same woman from the leaked audio and video tapes involving theNational Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman.
Last week, the NAB filed a reference in an accountability court againstTayyaba and her husband. The 630-page reference states that Tayyaba and herhusband Farooq, along with their accomplices, used to defraud innocentpeople impersonating officials of secret agencies and NAB.
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According to the reference, the investigation revealed that Farooq inconnivance with his wife lured and defrauded six complainants, includingHadayat Ullah, Saba Hamid, Safdar Hussain, Muhammad Asif, Muhammad ZahidIqbal and Niaz Ahmed.
However, the petitioner’s lawyer contended before the court that his clientwas arrested on the basis of ill-founded and fabricated charges. During thecourse of Wednesday’s proceedings, the counsel also accused the anti-graftwatchdog of misusing its powers.
