NICL land scam: Makhdoom Amin Fahim gets 10-day protective bail
Court directs him to surrender before the Anti-Corruption Court within stipulated time.
Makhdoom Amin Fahim. PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE
KARACHI:
The Sindh High Court granted protective pre-arrest bail to the Pakistan People’s Party-Parliamentary (PPP-P) president and former federal minister, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, in the 2009 National Insurance Corporation Limited (NICL) land scam case.
Former federal minister commerce, among six others, has been accused of causing financial losses to the national exchequer by violating procurement rules in the purchase of a piece of land in Korangi for NICL.
On Tuesday, Amin Fahim’s lawyer, Rasheed A Rizvi, told the judge that the FIA had earlier filed an interim charge sheet in the same case before the trial court on December 6, 2012, which did not contain Amin Fahim’s name. The final charge-sheet submitted by the FIA to the trial court on December 29, 2012 also did not contain the applicant’s name, he claimed.
In the supplementary charge-sheet in the same case, however, the FIA with malafide intentions has implicated Amin Fahim, he alleged. The lawyer claimed that his client and his family had denied all the allegations leveled against them, including the appointment of Ayaz Khan Niazi and purchase of ten acres of land in Korangi. Therefore, he should be admitted to protective bail for two weeks to surrender before the trial court, Razvi pleaded to the court. After hearing the arguments, Chief Justice Mushir Alam granted protective bail to the applicant Amin Fahim in the sum of Rs500,000 for ten days, directing him to surrender to the federal Anti-Corruption Court within the stipulated time. The trial court had issued non-bailable warrants on Monday for his arrest along with five other absconding co-accused, allegedly involved in the scam.
Lingering case
The court case is based on a written complaint by the former secretary of the commerce ministry, sent to the FIA on November 16, 2010, alleging financial embezzlement in the purchase of land by the NICL.
The secretary had requested the investigating agency to register a case regarding alleged embezzlement of NICL funds in the purchase of 10 acres of land in August 2009 in Korangi.
The secretary highlighted that the transaction had been made against Rs90 million per acre and requested the FIA to conduct an inquiry and fix responsibility on those involved. Subsequently, FIA’s commercial bank circle had registered FIR 21/2010 under Section 409, 420, 468, 471 and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) read with Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act-II 1947 and initiated inquiry into what has now become one of the largest scandals to engulf the former government.
The prosecution alleged that the then federal minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim, had illegally appointed then NICL chairperson, Ayaz Khan Niazi, and embezzled Rs900 million. On Monday, a FIA’s investigator had told the federal Anti-Corruption Court that investigation into the scam had revealed involvement of former minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim, former commerce secretary Salman Ghani, NICL ex-director Amin Qasim Dada, former board member Javed Syed and two other individuals - Khalid Anwar Khan and Amir Hussain.
Seeking more time to track down the absconding accused and complete the investigation, the FIA had sought time from the trial court. The judge had, however, issued non-bailable warrants for arrest of all the six absconding accused, including Amin Fahim, with direction to the FIA to arrest and produce them in court by April 10.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 3rd, 2013.
The Sindh High Court granted protective pre-arrest bail to the Pakistan People’s Party-Parliamentary (PPP-P) president and former federal minister, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, in the 2009 National Insurance Corporation Limited (NICL) land scam case.
Former federal minister commerce, among six others, has been accused of causing financial losses to the national exchequer by violating procurement rules in the purchase of a piece of land in Korangi for NICL.
On Tuesday, Amin Fahim’s lawyer, Rasheed A Rizvi, told the judge that the FIA had earlier filed an interim charge sheet in the same case before the trial court on December 6, 2012, which did not contain Amin Fahim’s name. The final charge-sheet submitted by the FIA to the trial court on December 29, 2012 also did not contain the applicant’s name, he claimed.
In the supplementary charge-sheet in the same case, however, the FIA with malafide intentions has implicated Amin Fahim, he alleged. The lawyer claimed that his client and his family had denied all the allegations leveled against them, including the appointment of Ayaz Khan Niazi and purchase of ten acres of land in Korangi. Therefore, he should be admitted to protective bail for two weeks to surrender before the trial court, Razvi pleaded to the court. After hearing the arguments, Chief Justice Mushir Alam granted protective bail to the applicant Amin Fahim in the sum of Rs500,000 for ten days, directing him to surrender to the federal Anti-Corruption Court within the stipulated time. The trial court had issued non-bailable warrants on Monday for his arrest along with five other absconding co-accused, allegedly involved in the scam.
Lingering case
The court case is based on a written complaint by the former secretary of the commerce ministry, sent to the FIA on November 16, 2010, alleging financial embezzlement in the purchase of land by the NICL.
The secretary had requested the investigating agency to register a case regarding alleged embezzlement of NICL funds in the purchase of 10 acres of land in August 2009 in Korangi.
The secretary highlighted that the transaction had been made against Rs90 million per acre and requested the FIA to conduct an inquiry and fix responsibility on those involved. Subsequently, FIA’s commercial bank circle had registered FIR 21/2010 under Section 409, 420, 468, 471 and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) read with Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act-II 1947 and initiated inquiry into what has now become one of the largest scandals to engulf the former government.
The prosecution alleged that the then federal minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim, had illegally appointed then NICL chairperson, Ayaz Khan Niazi, and embezzled Rs900 million. On Monday, a FIA’s investigator had told the federal Anti-Corruption Court that investigation into the scam had revealed involvement of former minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim, former commerce secretary Salman Ghani, NICL ex-director Amin Qasim Dada, former board member Javed Syed and two other individuals - Khalid Anwar Khan and Amir Hussain.
Seeking more time to track down the absconding accused and complete the investigation, the FIA had sought time from the trial court. The judge had, however, issued non-bailable warrants for arrest of all the six absconding accused, including Amin Fahim, with direction to the FIA to arrest and produce them in court by April 10.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 3rd, 2013.