SBCA official to return Rs7.4m in plea bargain

KARACHI:

An accountability court released on Tuesday the deputy director of Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) after approving his application for plea bargain in an alleged land scam.

Nadeem Ahmed Khan was accused of facilitating encroachment of government land for residential and commercial purposes by misusing his powers.

The NAB had arrested the suspect in a raid at SBCA headquarters in December last year. His name surfaced in the case following reported confessions of two alleged land grabbers, Faisal Masroor and Mujibullah Siddiqi. He was also said to be part of a land-grabbing ring.



During the hearing, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officials submitted a report before the accountability court-II judge contending that the suspect had pleaded guilty during investigations and voluntarily returned around Rs7.4 million through plea bargain. The NAB chairperson has also approved the conduct of plea bargain, the official added.

The investigations agency is empowered to release the suspect under the NAB Ordinance, which states that if the accused offers to return the gains acquired by him through corruption, the NAB chairperson may accept the offer and the case shall be referred for approval of the court. The judge accepted the report and discharged the suspect from the case.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 17^th,  2016.