Fraud plea against PM’s son dismissed

Judge says petitioner’s claims full of contradictions.

LAHORE: Additional District and Sessions Judge Javed Iqbal Shaikh on Saturday dismissed a petition seeking a case against Syed Abdul Qadir Gilani, son of Prime Minster Yousaf Raza Gilani, for allegedly defrauding a man of Rs380,000 in promising him an official job.

Petitioner Nauman Ahmed had alleged that in March 2012, his “close friend” Gilani and another man named Shabbir Ahmed had told him that there were high level posts vacant in the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited and if he gave them Rs400,000, they would get him appointed to one of those jobs. He said he had paid them Rs380,000, but they never got him the job.

In his verdict, the judge said that the petitioner’s claims were full of contradictions. He noted that the petitioner had sent an application the chief justice of Pakistan blaming Shabbir Ahmed but had not mentioned Gilani or presented any documentary proof of his involvement. Gilani’s lawyer told the court that Shabbir Ahmed had lodged a case against the petitioner under Section 489/F (cheque fraud) of the Pakistan Penal Code at Islampura police station. He believed that Nauman Ahmed’s petition was likely an attempt to get Shabbir Ahmed to drop his case. Nauman Ahmed had asked the court to direct the capital city police officer and the North Cantonment station house officer to register a case against Gilani and Shabbir Ahmed.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 10^th, 2012.