PHOTO: EXPRESS
“The public representatives face serious allegations, therefore, the matter [must] be investigated by the national anti-graft watchdog instead of the provincial anti-corruption establishment,” observed SHC Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M Sheikh, who headed the two-judge bench hearing bail pleas of the public representatives from Tando Muhammad Khan district.
The top provincial judge directed the NAB authorities to complete the investigation into the scam and submit a report based on the findings of the inquiry to the court by November 9.
The judges were hearing a case relating to alleged misappropriation of funds meant for the development schemes to be carried out in the district.
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The bench observed that the authorities only get the advertisements published in newspapers. CJ Sheikh noted that the public representatives were facing serious allegations, which needed to be investigated. He further observed that prima facie the relevant persons had misused their official authority in the matters related to public interest.
The top judge remarked that such allegations should be investigated by NAB, not the provincial anti-corruption authority. Therefore, the bench referred the matter to the NAB authorities with direction to initiate an inquiry against the deputy commissioner, district council chairman and all others involved in the scam. The investigators were directed to complete the inquiry and submit its report in court by November 9.
Water and sanitation
The same bench had on Tuesday also directed the NAB authorities to complete pending inquiries and investigations into alleged misappropriation of funds meant for the supply of water and improvement of sanitation schemes in different districts of the province.
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The NAB special prosecutor had informed the judges that Rs340 million had been misappropriated from the funds allocated for development schemes in Khairpur, Sukkur, Larkana and Shikarpur districts.
According to the prosecutor, the actual amount that had been misappropriated could run in billions of rupees once the pending inquiries and investigations were completed. He sought more time to finish the same.
The Pakistan Peoples Party-led provincial government had passed a law – the National Accountability Ordinance 1999 Repeal Act, 2017 - that had clipped NAB’s powers to operate in Sindh and transferred all pending inquiries and investigations to the provincial anti-corruption authority.
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However, the opposition parties - the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Pakistan Muslim League - Functional, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf - and civic rights campaigner Pasban Pakistan had challenged the new law.
Subsequently, the SHC had allowed the anti-graft watchdog to continue with pending inquiries and investigations against former and sitting lawmakers and government officers. It had also sought reports from NAB and the provincial government about the lawmakers and officers facing such inquiries or investigations.
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