ISLAMABAD: The top court of the country on Tuesday gave option to 222 loan defaulters to either pay 75% of the principal amount they had borrowed from the national bank or banking court decide their cases. During the hearing of a suo motu case pertaining to illegal waivers of loans amounting to Rs54 billion a three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, suggested two options to defaulters; either pay 75% of the principal amount or their matters will be referred to the banking courts for adjudication, where their money along with markup and properties could be confiscated. The bench has sought written reply from all persons over its options. “Every penny will be recovered,” remarked the top judge. Observing that every citizen was in debt of 117,000 rupees due to international loan, he said the recovered amount could be used to repay the country’s debt. He also warned that if someone does not pay back voluntarily then their matters could be referred to NAB as well. The hearing of case is adjourned until today (Wednesday). Waived off loans: CJP threatens to transfer case to NAB if money not returned In an earlier hearing, the apex court had sought concise statements from 222 individuals and companies which illegally got their loans written off between 1971 and 2009. Taking cognisance of a letter written by Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain in 2011, the apex court had formed a judicial commission, led by Justice (retd) Jamshed Ali, to probe the waivers. The commission probed over 700 cases in which Rs84 billion worth of banks loans were written off from 1971 to 2009. In its 13-volume report, the commission pointed out that apart from individuals, big businesses also got their loans written-off. It said a number of politicians availing loan waivers may be much higher than the number appearing in written-off loans figures. It also claimed that influential groups did exercise pressure on banks, but there was no direct evidence in this regard as the evidence may have been destroyed at the initial stages.
Even if 75% is recovered with interest, it will be miracle in country like Pakistan. We can build couple of metro buses with Rs84b. /s
