LAHORE: An accountability court on Monday dismissed an application of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) seeking withdrawal of a Rs9 billion reference of sanctioning illegal loans against former president of Bank of Punjab (BoP) Hamesh Khan and others forlack ofevidence.

Judge Zubair Shahzad Kiyani turned down the bureau`s plea after hearing the arguments of senior lawyer Khwaja Harris on behalf of the BoP.

The bank`s counsel argued that the application filed by the NAB was against the law. He pointed out that the chairman of the bureau did not have a mandatory consultation with the prosecutor general of the NAB.

He said the reference was filed 17 years ago and 81 out of 86witnesses had testified.

He said many suspects had confessed to their crime while some others had opted for plea-bargain with the NAB af ter being declared guilty in the investigation.

Advocate Harris questioned, `How previously held accused persons can be declared innocent now?` He alleged that the NAB had joined hands with the suspects.

Rejecting the NAB request, the judge summoned the remaining prosecution witnesses for their testimony on Nov 26.

Last week, a NAB prosecutor had told the court a fresh evaluation of old and new evidence was approved by the NAB chairman. He said the fresh scrutiny of the evidence found no offences of corruption and misuse of authority against the suspects.

He said the NAB chief approved the withdrawal of the reference.

Hamesh, the prime suspect of the 2007reference, was arrested in the United Statesin2OO9 by the Interpoland extradited to Pakistan next year. He had managed to flee the country despite being placed on the Exit Control List in 2008.

He was indicted in 2012 and released on bail by the Supreme Court after an incarceration of over five years in 2015.

The NAB had accused the former president of the BoP of issuing loans of billions of rupees on the basis of bogus documentations.

Sheikh Afzal of Harris Steels Mills, another key suspect, and his son Harris were arrested by the Fe deral Investigation Agency in Malaysia in 2009.

According to the NAB, Afzal and cosuspects Muhammad Munir, Ali Ijaz, Abid Raza and Irfan Ali, in connivance with Hamesh Khan and other officials of the bank, opened 23 fake accounts with forged national identity cards.

They obtained huge loans of approxi-mately Rs9bn from 2005 to 2007, using fake documentation, bogus collateral, fabricated guarantees and mortgage deeds executed by fictitious persons.

NARGIS CASE: A sessions court on Monday extended the interim pre-arrest ball of police Inspector Majid Bashir, the husband of stage actor Nargis, in a case of domestic violence against his wife.

The inspector did not appear before the court and his lawyer filed a written request for one-time exemption from personal appearance. The lawyer said Bashir could not attend the hearing due to the death of a close relative in Faisalabad.

The court accepted the request and extended the bail till Dec 2 with a direction to the suspect to join the investigation of the case against him.

Nargis had filed a case against her husband with Defense C police station, alleging physical violence and life threats.