A full bench of Lahore High Court on Thursday stopped the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from taking action against 35 petitioning companies for defaulting on bank loans, till the next hearing.
Petitioners’ counsel Shahid Ikram Siddiqui said his clients had taken Rs400 million loans from the Bank of Punjab. He said the bank had filed a suit for recovery of the loans which was still pending in the court. However the bank had also complained to the State Bank which had recommended the NAB to file a reference against them. The bank had also sent show-cause notices to the companies, he added.
Siddiqui said the NAB could not start proceedings against the petitioners while civil suits were still pending in court. The court adjourned the hearing till March 14 and asked the NAB to file a response.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 15th, 2013.