ISLAMABAD In an official disclosure, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has submitted a list of top guns of Pakistan, who got their loans written off worth over Rs 256 billion during last 38 years, in the Supreme Court here on Tuesday. The SBP told the apex court that more than 640,000 people were benefited through various schemes introduced by the then governments during last four decades. Various government banks and financial institutions had written off the loans of hundred of thousands of people, it added. The central bank presented the report with regard to a suo motu case. A three-member bench headed by Justice Sardar Muhammed Raza was hearing the case. Justice Chaudhry Ejaz Ahmad and Justice Mehmood Akhtar Shahid Siddiqui were the other judges of the bench. Syed Iqbal Haider, counsel for the State Bank informed the court that the loans were written off under the Circular 29 and each and every objection could not be raised over them. The loans, which had been got written off legally could not be retrieved. The State Bank only monitors whether the loans have been got written off legally or otherwise, he added. Meanwhile, a counsel was of the view that the banks should not mete-out insulting treatment to small loans defaulters. The apex court took the notice of Rs 53.499 billion bank loans, which were written off on the basis of a decision taken by the financial team of former president Pervez Musharraf in October 2002. Earlier, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry directed Chairman SBP to summon the meeting of all stakeholders of the banks and submitted the details of written-off loans starting from 1973 to till date, before the apex court. The people, who got loans written off in various terms, they are borrowings up to a limit over Rs500, 000 worth Rs213 billion and Rs43 billion up to a limit below Rs500, 000. According to the report, the loans amounting to Rs11.22 billion with a limit of Rs500, 000 and above were written off to at least 1424 people during a span from 1971 to 1996. Another 22, 021 people got loans worth over Rs202 billion written off from 1997 to 2009. Similarly, in the period from 1971 to 2009, at least 640,000 people got their loans worth below Rs500, 000 written off. According to the SBP report, there is no record of the Indus Bank and Banker Equity defaulters. The SBP said in its report that these loans include the capital, mark-up and other various charges. The committee comprising the presidents of the five banks requested the court to become party in the case. Various ministers, MPs, bureaucrats, land lords and their families having big business concerns and stakes are also among the beneficiaries of these written off loans whose details would be discussed in the committee meeting, he told the journalists here. He argued that the writing off of loans in the banking sector was under a policy guideline issued vides circular 29 and that the losses mentioned by audit did not pertain to the State Bank. Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, another counsel for the party on the very first hearing of the case last month informed the court that various vehicles of the records of beneficiaries would be bringing towards courts by the authorities concerned. However, he could not appear before the court here on Tuesday due to some engagements in other courts. Thousand of thousands also got loans written off under the various scheme. Even some foreign firms and multinational companies and a private bus service operating from Khyber to Karachi were also obtained this facility, the record, which was submitted Tuesday before the court, said. The report said that prudent banking practices and prudential regulations issued by the State Bank required securing loans through best guarantees, viable credit approvals, proper documentations and effective monitoring and follow up to avert flow of cases of non-performing loans. The schemes were divided into three categories: category 'A included up to Rs0.5 million, category 'B included ranging from Rs0.5 million to Rs2.5 million whereas category 'C included more than Rs2.5 million. The big political families and top guns exploited the third category of the written off loans to get billions of rupees outstanding against them written off from the banks, the report added. The Auditor General of Pakistan opined that this practice resulted in encouraging the defaulters with an extraordinary financial burden on the public exchequer. The report said the shocking written-off loans issue was raised with the Ministry of Finance and SBP management. The matter was also discussed in subsequent meetings in the recent past with the last one held in 2007. Meanwhile, the bench also accepted identical pleas of a committee comprising presidents of HBL, NBL, NIB, UBL and Standard Chartered for becoming party to the case and notices were also issued. Various other people, including Advocate Salman Akram Raja approached the court to become the party in the case dealing with written off loans. On this, the court issued notices to the parties and adjourned the hearing till indefinite time period.