KARACHI: Appeals against Udeshi’s conviction rejected
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Feb 6: Two appeals moved by former Sindh land utilization secretary Ramesh Udeshi against his conviction were dismissed while one was accepted by the Sindh High Court’s accountability appellate bench on Thursday.
The first appeal challenged the (former) secretary’s conviction by an accountability court for moving a summary for the approval of the then chief minister, Syed Abdullah Shah, for conversion of agricultural land in violation of rules. He was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment with a fine of Rs200,000.
The appellant former secretary accepted an application submitted by Mir Lutufullah Talpur and 10 others that 96 acres of farmland be put to industrial, commercial and residential use and leased out to them for 99 years. Both the conversion and the period of lease violated the rules and government policy but were favoured by the appellant.
Dismissing the appeal, the bench comprising, Justice Wahid Bux Brohi and Justice Mohammad Moosa K. Leghari, upheld the conviction and sentence.
The second dismissed appeal involved acceptance by the appellant of Noor Mohammad Dahiri’s application for conversion of 63 acres at Pir Mangho, district central, Karachi, leased out to him for mining into an industrial estate for establishment of a marble factory.
The bench accepted the former secretary’s appeal in another land conversion case in which he was sentenced till the rising of the court.
BAIL GRANTED: Justice Ataur Rahman of the Sindh High Court admitted a former army and PIA officer to protective bail in the sum of Rs100,000 to enable him to surrender and stand trial before an anti-corruption court.
Col Basit Ali Khan (retired) is alleged to have recommended, in his capacity as the employment manager of the Pakistan International Airlines Corporation, recruitment of an Indian national, Shafiq Siddiqui, who held himself out to be a Canadian-Pakistani, in the airlines as general manager of its computer section.
Claiming to be innocent, the petitioner submitted that he apprehended his arrest before surrendering and seeking bail from a competent anti-corruption court. Justice Rahman granted him interim protective bail till Feb 17.
notice to Nazim: The Sindh High Court has issued notices to the Landhi Town Nazim and the town committee officials on a writ petition complaining that they are extorting illegal gratification from organizers of Tuesday bachat bazaar in the town.
Petitioner Nasir Nizam submitted, through Advocate Akhtar Jamal, that he had been organizing the bazaar for the past nine years with the permission of the Karachi Development Authority. When the city and town governments took office, he was asked to pay a huge amount. He agreed to pay Rs60,000 by way of past dues to clear his outstanding liability. However, the Nazim and his subordinates wanted to pay them Rs20,000 a month for holding the bazaar. He was willing to pay the amount, but the Nazim told him that he would not be issued any receipt for it. He requested the court to direct the town committee to refrain from charging an exorbitant amount and issue receipts for whatever amount was recovered.
Pearl case: A division bench of the Sindh High Court put off on Thursday the hearing of appeals filed by the convicted accused in Daniel Pearl kidnapping and murder case for a date in office, as counsel for an appellant sought adjournment.
