ISLAMABAD:The Supreme Court on Wednesday suspended the sentences of two accused including its former registrar Amin Farooq and Javed Bangash in a graft reference.
A three-member SC bench headed by Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan heard the appeals of accused against their sentences.
Petitioner’s lawyer Khawaja Haris argued that his client Amin Farooq had spent eight years in jail out of his total 10-year sentence, and as a principle, it could be suspended if half of the jail term were completed.
He argued that no evidence was presented in the case that his client had directly received any financial benefit as he permitted to deposit the amount in a bank on the note of the cashier.
Justice Munib remarked that it was a crime not to use the powers. The registrar could have refused to approve the cashier’s note. The court had ordered to save the money not to use it for profit.
Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan observed that usually a cashier did not use to send the note to the registrar directly. A comparison of banks should have been conducted before depositing the money, which was missing in the instant case. Everyone knew the bank was going to default, he added.
Khwaja Haris said procedural irregularities could not be considered as crimes.
The court later adjourned the case for an indefinite time.
Former SC registrar Amin Farooq and three other accused were convicted in a reference for depositing Rs 590 million in the Islamic Investment Bank, which later defaulted.