KARACHI, March 4: The Sindh High Court acquitted on Thursday former navy chief Mansoorul Haq and retired commodore Mirza Ashfaq Beg in a reference alleging purchase of defective ships for the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation in the mid-1990s at exorbitant prices.
They were convicted by an accountability court and sentenced to seven years' rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs2 million each on Jan 8.
The absconding accused, Rear Admiral Javed Ali (retired), was convicted in absentia for evading the trial. The accused were stated to have caused a loss of about Rs1.85 million to the public exchequer.
They challenged their convictions on January 10. Disposing of their plea for suspension of sentences, a division bench comprising Justices Ghulam Nabi Soomro and M. Mujibullah Siddiqui asked the SHC office to fix the appeals for regular hearing in the last week of February.
Advocates Azizullah Shaikh, Iqtidar Ali Hashmi and Shaista Shamim appeared for the appellants and deputy prosecutor-general Anwar Tariq for the National Accountability Bureau.
Mansoor acquitted in ship case
By Shujaat Ali Khan
KARACHI, March 4: The Sindh High Court acquitted on Thursday former navy chief Mansoorul Haq and retired commodore Mirza Ashfaq Beg in a reference alleging purchase of defective ships for the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation in the mid-1990s at exorbitant prices.
They were convicted by an accountability court and sentenced to seven years' rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs2 million each on Jan 8. The absconding accused, Rear Admiral Javed Ali (retired), was convicted in absentia for evading the trial. The accused were stated to have caused a loss of about Rs1.85 million to the public exchequer.
They challenged their convictions on January 10. Disposing of their plea for suspension of sentences, a division bench comprising Justices Ghulam Nabi Soomro and M. Mujibullah Siddiqui asked the SHC office to fix the appeals for regular hearing in the last week of February.
Advocates Azizullah Shaikh, Iqtidar Ali Hashmi and Shaista Shamim appeared for the appellants and deputy prosecutor-general Anwar Tariq for the National Accountability Bureau. Arguments were heard on Feb 25 and 26 and March 3.
"Having heard the counsel and assessed the entire evidence in detail," the appellate bench observed, "we have reached a definite conclusion that the prosecution has failed to prove the case against both the appellants. Resultantly, by this short order, we allow the appeals and acquit them in the reference. They shall be released forthwith if not required in any other case."
Both the appellants were present at the time of the announcement of the order. Their counsel had based their arguments on certain observations and findings of the trial court. It held, for instance, that "there was no positive evidence on the record to suggest that the ships were bought at exorbitant prices".
There was, according to it, also no evidence to show that Ashfaq Beg was inducted in the PNSC by its outgoing chairman, Mansoorul Haq, on his assuming the office of navy chief in 1994-95 to see the ships' procurement deal through.
The trial court was not certain about the main allegation and the benefit of the doubt should have gone to the accused, they submitted.
The ships and their prices were: Apolonia (later renamed Swat) for $14.82 million; Ora Bhum (renamed Shalamar) for $15.55 million; and Independent Voyager (renamed Lalazar) for $16.77 million.
