News
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
SC decides to examine SBP circular for writing off loans* Chief justice says court wants to ensure that loans are not written off on political basis
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday decided to examine State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) Circular 29 whether it was constitutional and legal, regarding the written-off loans and adjourned the hearing till May 12.
A three-member bench of the apex court, comprising Chief Justice (CJ) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Muhammad Sair Ali and Justice Ghulam Rabani, was hearing a suo motu case of written-off loans worth Rs 256 billion by banks between 1971 and 2009.
Additional Attorney General (AAG), KK Agha, submitted that a letter to the federal government had already been dispatched but no reply had been received as yet.
Khawaja Haris, amicus curiae, submitted that SBP’s Circular 29 was constitutional and legal but was being misused for a long time.
He stated that the court should examine the Circular 29 and then refer the matter of written-off loans to the proposed commission.
The CJ observed that the court just wanted to ensure that in the future loans should not be written off through political means.
Agha suggested to the court to constitute a new commission with the help of experts in dealing with the white-collar crime.
The court welcomed his suggestion and observed that chairman of the commission would be allowed to hire experts in this regard.
AAG further submitted that commission also be directed to submit its report within 90 days instead of 180 days.
He submitted that they had already sent the recommendations regarding the constitution of a new commission to the government and now awaiting its response.
The CJ observed that the court would not interfere in the proceedings of the commission and they will be free to investigate these matters independently.
Justice Sair Ali observed that it was not an easy case and numbers of people were associated with this case.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk