NAB hearing: Retired military officers summoned for illegal land allotment

140 acres of land belonging to the Pakistan Railways were alotted for a golf club

Three retired military officers were summoned in the Pakistan Railways Royal Palm case by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB)  on Wednesday for the illegal use of 140 acres of land belonging to Pakistan Railways as a golf club, Express News reported. 

Lieutenant-General Javed Ashraf Qazi, Lieutenant-General Saeed al Zafar, Major General Hamid Hassan were presented at NAB headquarters before an investigative team and were grilled for causing a loss of millions to the national exchequer.

When this allotment was made, Javed Ashraf Qazi served as the minister for railway, Saeed Zafar as the secretary, and Hamid Hassan as the general manager.

In the year 2000, when the Pakistan Railways was run by the military, a prime land measuring 141 acres was given to a private party on a 49-year lease for commercial use at throwaway prices. The initial understanding was for 103 acres, for 33 years and the lease of additional land cost the exchequer Rs9.7 billion in losses, according to an audit report.