Land fraud case: SHC admits Ali Nawaz Shah’s appeal against conviction

The MPA was also disqualified from contesting elections for 10 years

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) admitted on Monday the appeal of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MPA Syed Ali Nawaz Shah against his conviction and subsequent disqualification by the accountability court in a graft case.

A two-judge bench, comprising justices Ahmed Ali M Sheikh and Muhammad Farooq Shah, issued notices to the deputy prosecutor general of the National Accountability Bureau to file their comments by the hearing.

Karachi's accountability court had, on September 10, convicted Ali Nawaz to undergo five years in prison in a land revenue fraud case and also imposed a fine of Rs560,000. The politician, who had won the election on the provincial assembly's seat, PS-65 in Mirpurkhas-II, was disqualified from contesting the polls for 10 years. The trial court had also convicted his nephew, Syed Imtiaz Ali Shah, and cousin, former MNA Syed Khadim Ali Shah, ordering them to pay fine of Rs430,000 and Rs540,000, respectively.

All of them challenged their conviction in the Sindh High Court by filing separate appeals.

The court was informed that the trial court had erred in passing the judgment that had not only awarded him a five-year jail sentence but also disqualified one of them, Ali Nawaz, from the membership of the provincial parliament.

It was claimed that the trial court had failed to appreciate the evidence in favour of the appellants, who had wrongly been convicted and sentenced. The court was pleaded to set aside the accountability court's order. After hearing the initial arguments, the bench admitted their appeals for regular hearing and issued notices to the NAB DPG and others to file their comments by September 21.

Conviction

The prosecution had alleged that the appellants were involved in making bogus B- Form to get compensation for land acquired for the construction of Sim nullah of the Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) and received Rs574,525, Rs547, 525 and Rs431,106  in excess of the amount settled for the land acquisition. Investigators claimed that they were also involved in preparing bogus Deh form VII-A and VIIB which indicated the ownership of the Khatedars and making fake power of attorneys so that the executants of the power of attorneys received the payment of the compensation of land.

Advocate AQ Halepota, the appellants' lawyer, argued that the prosecution's allegations leveled against the appellants did not fall within the ambit of NAB Ordinance. Their conviction was politically-motivated, he added.

Bails

The lawyer also filed bail applications on behalf of the appellants, arguing that since the amount allegedly embezzled by the appellants is less than Rs500,000, they may be released on bail.

The bench issued notices on the appeals and bail applications for September 21.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 15^th,  2015.