SHC hears petition about illegal lease of EPTB land

KARACHI:

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has directed Line Pvt. Ltd. to appear before the FIA in its inquiry into the land lease following an FIA probe into the illegal allotment of land of the Evacuees Property Trust Board (EPTB).

A bench headed by Justice Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro heard the petition.

Justice Kalhoro remarked that the Supreme Court had ordered an investigation into the land allotment. "How the Sindh High Court could interfere in the order of the Supreme Court."

Petitioner's counsel stated that we are not seeking suspension of the inquiry as FIA's attitude is one of fear of aggressive arrest.

An inquiry cannot be initiated before the Auditor General's report.

The court remarked, "When the FIA is not making an arrest, your actions are a speck in the beard of a thief." The court restrained the FIA from arresting the petitioner. However, the petitioner was directed to appear for inquiry.

The court also directed the petitioner to provide the material sought by the FIA in the inquiry.

The petition states that the company and its shareholders had leased the land from the Evacuees Property Trust Board in 1976. In 2006, the lease was extended for more than 16 acres of land up to 2075. The FIA had summoned the owners of Line Pvt. Ltd. for investigation. The Supreme Court in 2021 had ordered the FIA and the Auditor General of Pakistan to investigate.a

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Sulaiman Lashari murder case

Sulaiman Lashari murder case has been delayed due to the lawyer of the plaintiff. The special anti-terrorism court has given the plaintiff's lawyer a deadline for final arguments.

O Levels student Sulaiman Lashari was gunned down on May 8, 2014 on the balcony of his home in Defence Housing Authority at around 2am when he was preparing for a Chemistry paper due a few hours later.

He was allegedly killed by the main accused in the case, Salman Abro, son of Sakrand Police Training Centre SSP Ghulam Sarwar Abro.

Abro had arrived at the victim's home with five police constables to 'settle' an argument that had emanated from a car race a few days earlier, according to investigators. Sulaiman was killed in the shoot-out, while his brother Zeeshan and the guards deployed at their house retaliated and killed constable Zaheer Ahmed as well as injuring Abro.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 8^th, 2022.