Found guilty: Former revenue dept official, three others given five-year jail terms

Suspects convicted of using forged documents to transfer property

KARACHI: The city anti-corruption court sentenced on Wednesday a former revenue department official, a lawyer and two others to five years in prison after convicting them of illegally transferring property.

A former sub-registrar of the revenue department, Muhammad Urs Chandio, lawyer Muhammad Sharif, and two others, Abdul Jabbar and Yusuf, were charged with transferring ownership of an old building in Mithadar in 2007 using forged documents. The case was registered against them in 2011 after the anti-corruption establishment conducted an inquiry on a complaint filed by the previous residents of the building.

During the course of trial, the judge, Gulshan Ara Chandio, examined evidence against the accused brought forward by the prosecution, as well as the testimonies of the three witnesses who directly deposed against them. The court observed that the case against the accused was proved beyond any shadow of doubt and, therefore, they were convicted for the crime.

Besides the sentence, a fine of Rs200,000 was imposed on each suspect. If they do not pay the amount, they will undergo an additional year of imprisonment, according to the order. The accused were on bail and were taken into custody after the pronouncement of verdict.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 1^st, 2016.