Financial irregularities: President Zardari’s ‘foster brother’ summoned by SC

Tappi and his associates allegedly scammed billions in the allotment, regularisation and lease of state lands.

KARACHI:

The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday summoned Owais Muzaffar Tappi – rumoured to be President Asif Ali Zardari’s foster brother – along with his brother and agents, and officials of the Sindh Board of Revenue (SBR) over alleged involvement in massive irregularities pertaining to state lands in the province.

The bench, comprising justices Anwar Zaheer Jamali, Khilji Arif Hussain, Sarmad Jalal Osmany, Gulzar Ahmed and Muhammad Athar Saeed, also directed them to file their comments in this regard before the next session.

The issue came up during the Karachi violence suo motu case proceedings at the SC Karachi registry while the bench was hearing matters pertaining to the allotment, regularisation and lease of state lands.

Syed Mehmood Akhtar Naqvi, who had filed an application to become an intervener in the case, told the court that SBR was committing massive irregularities in the allotment, transfer and lease of state lands at the behest of certain private persons. He claimed that Owais Tappi in particular was ruling all government departments, including SBR and the police.



Naqvi alleged that Tappi, through his brother Manzoor and agents Muhammad Ali Sheikh and Aftab Pathan, connived with senior SBR member Shazar Shamoon and his section officers Bozdar Yar Muhammad and Hammad Chakar, and carried out irregularities in the allotment and regularisation of state lands and extended 30-year leases to 99 years through illegal means.

“They collect the amount for issuance of a land’s challan, but eat up the money instead of depositing the entire amount with the State Bank of Pakistan. In addition to this, they also use forged stamps,” he alleged.

Citing one such example, Naqvi said the revenue officers regularised state land worth Rs30 million per acre in the name of Saddaf Aleem in Deh Khato against Rs1 million per acre.

The judges took serious note of the state of affairs in the revenue department.



“Everyone who appears before the court mentions Tappi’s name. Who is this Tappi… is he a ghost?” an irate Justice Osmani asked Shazar Shamoon.

Shamoon claimed he never met Tappi, saying, “I’ve only seen him on TV.”

The bench served notices to Shamoon, Tappi, Manzoor, Sheikh, Pathan, Yar Muhammad and Chakkar, directing them to file their comments. Shamoon was also directed to file a report on the reconstruction of lands record.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1^st, 2013.