KARACHI, Oct 28: An accountability court on Tuesday reserved its judgment in a corruption reference against former navy chief Mansoorul Haq and retired commodore Mirza Ashfaq Baig.
Judge Parkash Lal Ambwani of the AC-4 fixed November 15 for pronouncement of the judgement after hearing final arguments form the defence and prosecution.
Mansoorul Haq and Mirza Ashfaq have been prosecuted for causing a loss of over Rs1.8 billion to the national exchequer in the procurement of three vessels for the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC).
According to the prosecution, Mansoorul Haq with criminal intent to obtain undue benefits got an approval for the deal in 1994 from the then government.
When he was appointed chief of naval staff, he allegedly hatched a conspiracy with rear admiral (r) Javed Ali, an absconding accused, and Ashfaq Baig, co-accused, for the procurement of the ships on much exorbitant prices.
The naval official were accused of violating the laid down procedure and terms of approval in purchasing the ships which were not suitable.
It was further alleged that the purchase of ships was against the selection criteria of the Board of Directors and without considering the classification record of the ships, payment of customs, regulatory and other duties.
The ships were Apolonia, purchased for US$14.82 million and later renamed as Sawat, Ora Bhum for US$15.55 million (Shalamar) and Independent Voyager for US$16.77 million.
The accused, allegedly in collusion, connivance and collaboration with each other, and Javed Ali fraudulently misused the official authority to obtain undue benefits and they failed to exercise their authority to prevent the losses to the exchequer, and thereby committed an offence of corruption and corrupt practices as defined under Section 9 of the NAB Ordinance.
The prosecution was represented by special public prosecutor Sarfraz Ahmed Tanoli, who examined 16 prosecution witnesses.
KIDNAPPING: An anti-terrorism court put off on Tuesday the hearing of a kidnapping for ransom case after deposition of a prosecution witness.
Judge Arshad Noor Khan of the ATC-3 fixed November 3 for recordingof statements of other prosecution witnesses.
The case pertained to the kidnapping of Mohammed Bilal Shahzad, son of a businessman, who was released after a payment of Rs450,000 as ransom on June 12.
Three accused, Shahzad alias Haider Ali, Abdul Jabbar and Ahmed Hussain alias Immi, have been charged with the kidnapping. Six other accused — Arshad alias Pappu, son of Haji Laloo, Rustum, Zeeshan alias Burger, Shahzad alias Shahji, Haji Ameen and Abu Sufiyan — have been declared absconders in the case.
The victim, Shahzad, 18, was kidnapped near Boat Basin on June 5 as he parked his car in front of an eating house. His paternal uncle, Imran Ijaz, and elder brother, Faraz Zafar, negotiated with his captors who took the ransom money at a desolate place near Aladin Park.
Special public prosecutor, Naimat Ali Randhawa, examined SINasir Sami as the first prosecution witness.
MURDER CASE: An anti-terrorism court adjourned the hearing of a sectarian murder case registered against the chief of the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi and his three alleged accomplices at the request of one of the defence counsels.
Judge Haq Nawaz Baloch of the ATC-5, who is conducting the trial inside the Juvenile Prison, fixed November 3 for the next hearing following the adjournment application of defence counsel, Sarfraz Tanoli.
A junior defence counsel appeared in the court and moved the adjournment application on behalf of Mr Tanoli.
The LJ chief, Akram Lahori, and his associates Ataullah, Muhammed Azam and Malik Tasadduq, were charged with the killing of Seth Ramzan Ali, owner of Pak Iranian Tea Company, at his outlet in Saddar on February 11 last year. Ehsan Ali, an employ of the company, and Muhammed Firdous, a customer, were also injured in the attack. The attackers had also hurled an explosive device which devastated the shop.
The special public prosecutor, Mazhar Qayyum, told the court that a prosecution witness was present to record statement.
The judge ordered the prosecution to examine the witness on the next date of hearing.
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