SHC irked at NAB’s performance in Gorakh Hills inquiry
CJ Shaikh raises questions at NAB's method of inquiring into ‘corruption’ in contracts for construction
PHOTO: GHDA
KARACHI:
The Sindh High Court (SHC) summoned the operations director-general in personal capacity on Tuesday over the National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) inquiry into the alleged corruption in the contracts for construction work on Gorakh Hills. A two-member bench headed by SHC Chief Justice (CJ) Ahmed Ali Shaikh and comprising Justice Omar Sial heard the case.
The CJ was irked by the slow performance of NAB officials. The court directed the NAB chairperson to supervise the inquiry himself while summoning the operations DG.
"NAB officials don't take action against the big fish but they can arrest a master if they want," remarked CJ Shaikh. "Have you ever seen Gorakh Hills or have you gone there for investigation?" he asked, addressing the NAB official.
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The prosecutor replied that the case was currently at the inquiry level. "We will visit the place when it comes to investigation level," he said.
The CJ remarked that the investigation was being conducted through letters while NAB officials remained in Karachi. He questioned how NAB was conducting the investigation.
The court extended the interim bail of accused Tahir Hussain Aawan till December 17.
Plea accepted
The bench directed the relevant authorities to remove the name of Rao Anwar's nephew, Rao Amir Sharif, from the Exit Control List (ECL) while hearing the plea seeking Sharif's removal from the no-fly list. The Sindh government submitted its reply stating that Sharif's name was included in the list due to his suspected involvement in the Naqeebullah murder case. The reply mentioned that Sharif's name had surfaced during the police's investigation. The petitioner's counsel, Malik Javed, maintained that Sharif is an ordinary citizen. He argued that the IO had mentioned him as a police official even though he was not related to the police. "Rao Amir's name is not present in any police report," he argued.
The court directed the removal of Sharif's name from the ECL after hearing his counsel's argument.
Corruption in police
Meanwhile, the bench directed the counsels of the accused to appear before the court within a week in the case pertaining to large scale corruption in the Sindh Police Department. The bench was hearing the bail pleas of former Sindh IGP Ghulam Haider Jamali, AIG Tanveer Tahir and other accused.
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The CJ expressed annoyance at the absence of Jamali's counsel, Farooq H Naik. The bench remarked that the interim bail would be cancelled if the counsels of the accused don't appear before the court within a week.
According to NAB, the accused caused a loss of over Rs150 million to the finance department by committing corruption under the pretext of the police feeding fund. Along with Tahir and Jamali, Fida Hussain Shah, Kamran Rashid, former AIG Faisal Bashir, Memon Sarmad, Midhat Hussain, Ali Ashgar and others are accused in the case.
Bail rejected
The bench rejected the bail plea of an accused in the illegal allotment of the Karachi Port Trust land case.
According to NAB, Atuf had gone into hiding when his bail was cancelled. He was on the run and approached the high court after a long time on Tuesday to acquire bail. The bench rejected his plea and the accused was arrested outside the court.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 20th, 2019.
The Sindh High Court (SHC) summoned the operations director-general in personal capacity on Tuesday over the National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) inquiry into the alleged corruption in the contracts for construction work on Gorakh Hills. A two-member bench headed by SHC Chief Justice (CJ) Ahmed Ali Shaikh and comprising Justice Omar Sial heard the case.
The CJ was irked by the slow performance of NAB officials. The court directed the NAB chairperson to supervise the inquiry himself while summoning the operations DG.
"NAB officials don't take action against the big fish but they can arrest a master if they want," remarked CJ Shaikh. "Have you ever seen Gorakh Hills or have you gone there for investigation?" he asked, addressing the NAB official.
Govt might consider lifting ban on construction in Murree
The prosecutor replied that the case was currently at the inquiry level. "We will visit the place when it comes to investigation level," he said.
The CJ remarked that the investigation was being conducted through letters while NAB officials remained in Karachi. He questioned how NAB was conducting the investigation.
The court extended the interim bail of accused Tahir Hussain Aawan till December 17.
Plea accepted
The bench directed the relevant authorities to remove the name of Rao Anwar's nephew, Rao Amir Sharif, from the Exit Control List (ECL) while hearing the plea seeking Sharif's removal from the no-fly list. The Sindh government submitted its reply stating that Sharif's name was included in the list due to his suspected involvement in the Naqeebullah murder case. The reply mentioned that Sharif's name had surfaced during the police's investigation. The petitioner's counsel, Malik Javed, maintained that Sharif is an ordinary citizen. He argued that the IO had mentioned him as a police official even though he was not related to the police. "Rao Amir's name is not present in any police report," he argued.
The court directed the removal of Sharif's name from the ECL after hearing his counsel's argument.
Corruption in police
Meanwhile, the bench directed the counsels of the accused to appear before the court within a week in the case pertaining to large scale corruption in the Sindh Police Department. The bench was hearing the bail pleas of former Sindh IGP Ghulam Haider Jamali, AIG Tanveer Tahir and other accused.
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The CJ expressed annoyance at the absence of Jamali's counsel, Farooq H Naik. The bench remarked that the interim bail would be cancelled if the counsels of the accused don't appear before the court within a week.
According to NAB, the accused caused a loss of over Rs150 million to the finance department by committing corruption under the pretext of the police feeding fund. Along with Tahir and Jamali, Fida Hussain Shah, Kamran Rashid, former AIG Faisal Bashir, Memon Sarmad, Midhat Hussain, Ali Ashgar and others are accused in the case.
Bail rejected
The bench rejected the bail plea of an accused in the illegal allotment of the Karachi Port Trust land case.
According to NAB, Atuf had gone into hiding when his bail was cancelled. He was on the run and approached the high court after a long time on Tuesday to acquire bail. The bench rejected his plea and the accused was arrested outside the court.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 20th, 2019.