05 October 2004	Tuesday	19 Shaban 1425

KARACHI, Oct 4: An accountability court put off on Monday the hearing of a corruption case against a former joint secretary of the interior ministry and his wife after recording the statements of two prosecution witnesses.

Judge Mrs Qaiser Iqbal of the AC-1, who is also the administrative judge of all ACs in Karachi, fixed Oct 8 for recording statements of further prosecution witnesses. Ziaul Islam, also a former commissioner of Karachi, and Mrs Kausar Parveen have been charged with amassing wealth and raising assets, worth over Rs40 million, beyond their known and legal means.

Special public prosecutor Akbar Ali examined Mukhtar Ahmed and Rashid Nabi as prosecution witnesses, who were also cross- examined by defence counsel Ilyas Ahmed. PW Mukhtar Ahmed submitted to the court that he had sold out his plot in Nazimabad to the accused for Rs5.5 million in 1996.

Rashid Nabi, an official of the National Bank, placed on record details of four bank accounts maintained by the accused couple. The bank official also placed on record details of an account of the accused in the defunct NDFC. The former secretary is in custody and his wife is on an interim bail granted by the Sindh High Court. The couple are being represented by Ilyas Khan.