Court reserves verdict on maintainability of NAB reference against Mustafa Kamal
Defence argues reference maintainable therefore accountability court could not issue arrest warrants
Mustafa Kamal. PHOTO: EXPRESS
KARACHI:
An accountability court reserved the verdict on the maintainability of National Accountability Bureau's reference, pertaining to illegal allotment of land, against former city nazim Mustafa Kamal, after completion of arguments by the parties on Saturday.
Kamal, former Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) DG Iftikhar Qaimkhani, Dawood Jan and other accused appeared before the court.
Defence lawyer, Amir Naqvi, maintained that the reference is not maintainable therefore the court could not issue arrest warrants of the accused on the run. He said that only notices should be issued to the accused so that they appear before the court and corporate.
The counsel for Dawood Jan said that that the NAB chairperson has to decide whether the reference is maintainable, the court will decide after that. He argued that the reference does not meet the required standard of merit.
The counsels for the accused argued that the reference was not maintainable as the NAB chairperson hadn't fulfilled his responsibility and NAB officials hadn't mentioned the complete facts.
NAB prosecutor, Shehbaz Sahotra, said that there were 198 small plots and four commercial plots in 1983 and all these plots were commercialised in 1993. He told the court that in 2007 the plots were merged into a single plot of 6,000 square yards. He maintained that the reference was maintainable and was filed on the directives of the NAB chairperson after completion of inquiry and investigation. There is plenty of evidence to prove the reference, he argued, adding that the plots belong to hawkers who haven't paid money from them. The prosecutor maintained that the hawkers couldn't sell the plots without making the complete payment for them.
The court reserved the verdict on the maintainability of the reference and adjourned the hearing till November 6.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 27th, 2019.
An accountability court reserved the verdict on the maintainability of National Accountability Bureau's reference, pertaining to illegal allotment of land, against former city nazim Mustafa Kamal, after completion of arguments by the parties on Saturday.
Kamal, former Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) DG Iftikhar Qaimkhani, Dawood Jan and other accused appeared before the court.
Defence lawyer, Amir Naqvi, maintained that the reference is not maintainable therefore the court could not issue arrest warrants of the accused on the run. He said that only notices should be issued to the accused so that they appear before the court and corporate.
The counsel for Dawood Jan said that that the NAB chairperson has to decide whether the reference is maintainable, the court will decide after that. He argued that the reference does not meet the required standard of merit.
The counsels for the accused argued that the reference was not maintainable as the NAB chairperson hadn't fulfilled his responsibility and NAB officials hadn't mentioned the complete facts.
NAB prosecutor, Shehbaz Sahotra, said that there were 198 small plots and four commercial plots in 1983 and all these plots were commercialised in 1993. He told the court that in 2007 the plots were merged into a single plot of 6,000 square yards. He maintained that the reference was maintainable and was filed on the directives of the NAB chairperson after completion of inquiry and investigation. There is plenty of evidence to prove the reference, he argued, adding that the plots belong to hawkers who haven't paid money from them. The prosecutor maintained that the hawkers couldn't sell the plots without making the complete payment for them.
The court reserved the verdict on the maintainability of the reference and adjourned the hearing till November 6.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 27th, 2019.