SUNDAY TIMES ISLAMABAD: Accountability Judge Muhammad Bashir is hearing the case.
Three co-accused Saeed Ahmed Naeem Mehmood and Mansoor Rizvi were present in the court hearing.
The court was hearing the arguments of Advocate Hashmat Habib, the counsel of co-accused Saeed Ahmed, over the acquittal plea of his client.
The counsel denied the argument that his client was appointed President of National Bank due to favoritism.
He said, Saeed was made the bank’s president following due procedure and the rules and regulations.
He was removed due to the reference against him. He called the way his client was removed from the bank’s top post as degrading.
In a hearing of the case on January 16, the accountability court recorded statements of three witnesses, including a forensic expert who was presented as a witness by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
In his statement, the witness, Muhammad Naseem, said that co-accused Saeed Ahmed’s signatures were found to be fake in seven bank accounts. He said the signatures on the bank accounts do not bear any similarity to his signature.
Another witness, private bank employee Muhammad Aftab, also recorded his statement and submitted documents related to two of Saeed Ahmed’s bank accounts.
Ahmed, on the other hand, declared that he had no links with these bank accounts.
The National Accountability Bureau has decided to seek extradition of former finance minister Ishaq Dar and other absconding persons living abroad in graft references.
Earlier, in a hearing of the Supreme Court, it was informed that British authorities had conditionally agreed to extradite Dar.
A government law officer informed the judges that the UK Interior Ministry had sent a questionnaire comprising 27 questions regarding the case. “We have given the questionnaire to NAB.”
The additional attorney general said once the Pakistani government submitted its reply, the UK authorities would make a decision regarding the extradition of the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) leader.