Illegal land allotment case: SHC grants time to NAB, investigation officer to file replies

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) directed on Wednesday the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) additional deputy prosecutor-general and the investigation officer (IO) to respond to the court’s queries about a case of illegal land allotment and regularisation made against the provincial chief secretary, Muhammad Siddique Memon.

Headed by Justice Ahmed Ali M Sheikh, the division bench was hearing a petition filed by the top provincial bureaucrat, who had, on August 27, obtained interim pre-arrest bail from the high court, which had also issued notices to the NAB authorities to explain their action against him.

During Wednesday’s proceedings, NAB additional deputy prosecutor-general Muhammad Altaf and IO of the case, Asghar Khan, filed para-wise comments supported by certain documents.

While taking the comments on record, the two judges asked questions from the prosecutor and the IO, who could not offer any answer.

“[The additional deputy prosecutor-general of] NAB as well as the IO are not in a position to reply to the queries raised by the court in relation to the role of other members of the committee, which regularised the alleged allotments. They seek further time,” the judges observed.

To their specific query, the IO categorically stated that he did not issue call-up notices to any of the members of the regularisation committee except the petitioner.

The bench adjourned the hearing until October 8 on the request of the IO to enable him to reply to the court’s queries on the next date of hearing.

Until then, the petitioner was dispensed with from personal appearance.

Court orders production of Sindh Cooperative Housing Authority chairperson

Meanwhile, another bench directed the directors-general of the intelligence and law enforcement agencies to produce Syed Hajan Shah, the managing director of the Sindh Cooperative Housing Authority, before the court on September 17.

Headed by Justice Irfan Saadat Khan, the bench issued this direction to the Inter-Services Intelligence DG, provincial director-general of the Rangers, the IG police and others on a petition filed by Ali Ahmed Shah.

The petitioner alleged that the law enforcers had raided his house in DHA Phase VIII on the night of August 7 and had taken away his father, Syed Hajan Shah, whose whereabouts were unknown ever since.

The court was pleaded to order the high-ups of the intelligence and law enforcement agencies to disclose whereabouts of the petitioner’s father and produce him in the court of law along with the details of cases, if any, against him.