NBW issued for Babar Ghauri

Javed Hanif, others appear in court in Rs2.88b corruption reference

KARACHI: An accountability court issued on Monday a non-bailable arrest warrant for former federal minister Babar Ghauri in a corruption reference case pertaining to illegal appointments in the Karachi Port Trust.



Sitting MPA belonging to Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Javed Hanif, who was also a suspect in the case among others, also attended the hearing. Advocate Shaukat Hayat submitted the power to represent Hanif in the case. The investigation officer of the case sought additional time to arrest all the suspects. The court, issuing the non-bailable warrant for Ghauri, adjourned the hearing until October 18.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has nominated Babar Ghori and eight other suspects, including Rauf Akhtar Farooqi and Javed Hanif in the corruption reference. The suspects were accused to have facilitated 940 illegal appointments in KPT during 2012, causing a loss of up to Rs2.88 billion to the national exchequer.

Bail pleas

Meanwhile, the Sindh High Court (SHC) adjourned on Monday the hearing for bail plea of the suspects involved in the case pertaining to the illegal appointments in the Ports and Shipping Ministry. A divisional bench heard the case.



Counsels for the suspects, including Muttahida Qaumi Movement - Pakistan's (MQM-P) MPA Javed Hanif requested the court to hold a combined hearing for all the bail applications.

The court was informed that suspects Rauf Akhtar Farooqi, Muhammad Iqbal and Mehmood Sharif had also filed for bail. The court granted the request and adjourned the hearing till October 15.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 9^th, 2018.