SHC reserves verdict on bail pleas in land scam case

Badin DC had moved court seeking bail in NAB inquiry into illegal allotment of 77 acres in Bin Qasim

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) reserved on Thursday its order on bail pleas of the former secretary of provincial land utilisation department and co-accused in the state lands illegal allotment scam.

A two-judge bench, headed by SHC Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M Sheikh, reserved the verdict after hearing arguments from the lawyer representing the applicants and the National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) prosecutor. The verdict will be announced on September 13.

Badin Deputy Commissioner Shaukat Hussain Jokhio had moved the court seeking bail in connection with NAB inquiry into alleged illegal allotment of 77 acres of state lands in Bin Qasim. The judges were informed that the petitioner, Jokhio, had nothing to do with the alleged land scam, however, the former director-general of NAB had implicated him in the case due to personal enmity.



Earlier, the bench had granted bail to the petitioner and issued notice to NAB prosecutor to file comments.

On Thursday, the NAB prosecutor informed the court that the revenue officers had illegally allotted the precious state lands, adding that the secretary land utilisation department and other officials were involved in the scam. He claimed ample evidence was available against them, so a reference had been prepared and filed against the petitioner and co-accused in the relevant accountability court.

Therefore, the prosecutor pleaded to the court to dismiss the petitioner Jokhio's plea for confirmation of his interim bail, as he was found involved in the alleged offence. After hearing the arguments, the bench reserved its verdict on the pleas seeking confirmation of the petitioner and other.