The Supreme Court has granted bail to Peshawar Immigration Director Farrukh Jamal Siddiqui, who was arrested over allegation of taking bribes from refugees, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
A three-member bench headed by Justice Jamal Mandokhail heard the case on Monday. During the hearing, the Additional Attorney General informed the court that Rs600,000 had been recovered from Farrukh Jamal at the time of his arrest.
The prosecution further claimed that Rs10 million in cash was recovered from the residence of the accused on his identification. It was also argued that vehicles and other items recovered from him were allegedly not commensurate with his known sources of income.
Justice Aqeel Abbasi questioned whether the recovered money had been marked currency or how the prosecution could establish that the cash was obtained through corruption.
The judge also observed that no complaint had appeared before the court against the accused.
Justice Jamal Mandokhail remarked our country is afflicted by the cancer of corruption and questioned whether the accused admitted ownership of the recovered money. The court was told that the money did not belong to the accused
The court subsequently approved bail for Peshawar Immigration Director Farkh Jamal Siddiqui, along with his driver Muhammad Hakeem.
During the proceedings, the accuser’s counsel, Arshad Hussain Yousafzai, argued that his client had no connection with the crime
Justice Jamal Mandokhail asked whether a driver could realistically refuse an order from his director, while observing that the driver had been arrested unnecessarily.
The Additional Attorney General maintained that the director and driver had been arrested together and alleged that the driver would keep a portion of the money while handing over the remaining amount to the director.
The court, however, observed that the driver could not make decisions on behalf of the director and approved his bail as well.
Reporter : Amanat Gishkori