The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday suspended the sentence of a business tycoon of Hyderabad, Gohar Ullah, in a coal corruption reference of over Rs2 billion and granted him bail.
An SHC bench heard the bail petition of Gohar Ullah, the former president of Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce (HCCI). The court granted Gohar bail against surety of Rs1 million.
In November 2022, a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) court had sentenced Gohar to seven years imprisonment and a fine of Rs50 million for illegal sale of coal.
The Fateh Group was awarded a contract to build a 200 megawatt power plant powered by coal.
Although the plant was never established, the company allegedly began to mine between 800 and 1,000 tons of coal every day and sold it in the market. The mines and minerals department efforts to rectify the situation were stalled by Gohar, allegedly through political influence.
Subsequently last November, Gohar and five others were convicted for selling coal meant for use as fuel for the power generation in the open market for more than a decade. However, the SHC bench accepting Gohar's plea suspended the sentence and granted him bail.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 22nd, 2023.
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