Court issues non-bailable arrest warrant of ex-BISP chairperson Farzana Raja

ISLAMABAD: An accountability court on Monday issued non-bailable arrest warrant for the former chairperson of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) Farzana Raja over her continuous absence, ARY NEWS reported.

According to details, during a hearing of a reference against BISP in an accountability court, no-bailable arrest warrants were issued against Farzana Raja, besides also being declared proclaimed offender after her continuous absence from the court hearings.

“Farzana Raja’s NIC should be blocked and her name be placed on the ECL,” Judge Asghar Ali directed besides also ordering to separate her matter from the case hearing and set a new date for her indictment.

The court also summoned the NAB prosecutor during the next hearing set on June 14 after the counsel of the co-accused in the case argued that indictment could not be made on interim reference.

National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Rawalpindi bureau had filed a reference against former chairperson BISP Farzana Raja and others accused of alleged corruption in Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) in March last year.

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The reference comprised of 32 volumes has been sent to the Registrar Office for scrutiny, in which overall 19 persons have been made the party.

The executive board meeting chaired by NAB chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal had approved the reference for granting advertisement campaign contract to four advertising agencies contrary to Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules, which allegedly inflicted Rs 1.46 billion losses to the national exchequer.