Daily Times

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered that the names of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah be removed from both the exit control list (ECL) and the joint investigation team’s report into a case pertaining to alleged laundering of billions of rupees through fake bank accounts.

The court ordered the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to initiate a fresh inquiry into the mega money laundering and fake bank accounts scandal in the light of the JIT report and complete the investigation within two months.

During the hearing of the suo motu case regarding delay into a 2015 Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) probe into money laundering of billions of rupees through fake bank accounts, Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar grilled state prosecutor Faisal Siddiqui over placing Bilawal on the no-fly list. “The JIT will have to clarify one thing: Why did it involve Bilawal in this matter?” he asked. “What did Bilawal do?”

The chief justice wondered if the PPP chairman’s name had been included upon ‘someone’s directives’. He asked the state prosecutor if the reason behind Bilawal’s inclusion in the investigation was to ‘defame someone’. “How does being a shareholder prove that Bilawal is part of the scandal?” the chief justice questioned. “His [Bilawal’s] father and paternal aunt were running the businesses. At this moment, Bilawal is clean and innocent. Why has his name been included in report?” he further asked. “Bilawal is taking forward his mother’s political inheritance,” he remarked.

The chief justice also expressed annoyance at the placement of Sindh chief minister’s name on the ECL. “NAB can probe Bilawal and Murad Ali Shah independently. If after the investigation a reference can be formed, then it should be filed,” he observed.

The chief justice observed that the fake accounts appeared to be connected to politicians, Bahria Town and the Omni Group. He said the court had yet to see whether Omni Group had ties to politicians named in the JIT report, and if both were linked to Bahria Town as well. Omni Group lawyer Munir Bhatti denied the existence of a nexus between the three different companies. He urged the bench to allow him to show the court the ‘real picture’ and told the bench that Omni Group had bought the sugar mills in accordance with the law. “But the mills were not available for free, were they?” the chief justice asked. “The money came through the fake accounts.” Bhatti said that his client had not done anything illegal by buying sugar mills on subsidies and added that the figures mentioned in the JIT report were not a single record.

“Do you know anything about layering, Mr Bhatti?” Justice Ijazul Ahsan, who is part of the bench hearing the case, asked the lawyer. Bhatti responded in the negative. “Then why are you presenting arguments?” Justice Ahsan asked. The chief justice said that the findings of the JIT report cannot be dismissed and the court has to examine the replies from the respondents.

Meanwhile, Anwar Majeed’s lawyer Shahid Hamid, who also appeared before the court, said that instead of verifying the JIT report itself, the apex court should let the FIA determine its authenticity, since the latter had initially taken up the case. He urged the court to allow the companies that are owned by the Omni Group but are not named in the JIT report to continue functioning.

The SECP, in its response, said the JIT had not approached it for comment or given it an opportunity to explain the ‘correct legal position’ on the matter of acquisition of shares of Arif Habib Bank and Atlas Bank by Suroor Investment Ltd. “Therefore, it is of utmost importance to bring on the record the true legal position and important facts for assistance of this honourable court while considering the report of the JIT to the extent of the purported role of SECP in the scheme of arrangement of three banking companies,” it added.

The SECP informed the court as to how the merger and acquisition took place, and all the laws and rules under which it took place. It said it had followed up on the matter with all three banks involved in the M&A process for almost a year and a half, adding that the proceedings under the Takeover Ordinance were only dropped after receipt of letters from the State Bank of Pakistan through which it was conclusively established that the transaction is a part of rehabilitation/scheme of arrangement for revival of sick banks, which will ultimately stand merged through an order of the SBP.

“Consequently, SBP approved the merger of the banks through which shareholders of Atlas Bank, My Bank and Arif Habib Bank were given shares of Summit Bank as per the swap ratio determined and approved by SBP,” it said, adding that the JIT’s observations be reconsidered and removed, being factually incorrect and legally misconceived.

Published in Daily Times, January 8^th 2019.