An accountability court in the federal capital on Tuesday indicted nearly a dozen former employees of the apex civic authority of the city for irregularities in the award of contracts and land in the Diplomatic Enclave.
Accountability Court Judge Azam Khan on Tuesday heard a reference filed by the apex anti-graft watchdog, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
He read out the charge sheet against the 11 former employees of the Capital Development Authority (CDA), including its former chairman Kamran Lashari, Planning Member Ghulam Sarwar Sindhu, along with Kamran Qureshi, Mazhar Hussain, Fida Hussain, Shaukat Ali, Faisal Awan and others.
The suspects all denied the charges.
Lashari, who served as the head of the CDA at a critical time in the mid-2000s, asked why he was being indicted given that the anti-graft watchdog had closed an inquiry against him in 2015.
“Why did NAB close the inquiry against me in 2015 if [I have] caused a massive loss? Is the old inquiry wrong or this one?” Lashari asked.
He added that he had been unemployed for the past two years despite being a gold medallist, maintaining that anti-corruption watchdog was dragging him in fake cases while one of his associates has already committed suicide due to actions of NAB.
At this, the court remarked that the accused will be acquitted if no concrete evidence is presented against them.
“The law treats everyone equally,” the judge remarked.
The judge further remarked that the court is putting the trial of the case on a fast track. Thereafter, the court directed the prosecution to present evidence at the next hearing and adjourned further hearings until November 19.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 4th, 2020.
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