KARACHI, March 26: An accountability court acquitted three accused, including two custom officers, in five different corruption cases. The cases pertained to obtaining over Rs90 million through bogus rebate claims. Judge Mrs Qasier Iqbal of the AC-1, who is also the administrative judge of all ACs, exonerated Imtiaz Ali Taj, former special assistant to caretaker prime minister Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, Ali Ahmed Baloch, superintendent of customs, and Shahid Hussain, deputy superintendent of customs, from the charges while giving them the benefit of doubt. According to the prosecution, the former special assistant to the caretaker prime minister acted as the chief executive of two firms, Charlie Enterprises and Concord Export House, owned by absconding accused Haroon Rasheed and Qurban Khan. It was alleged that accused Imtiaz Ali Taj helped accused Haroon Rasheed in opening a bank account in Quetta for obtaining export rebate cheques. He allegedly processed and sanctioned cheques in many cases.
Ali Ahmed Baloch and Shahid Hussain were charged with abetment with the co-accused and absconding accused for showing the fraudulent export and they allegedly helped in the repayment of customs duty, refund of sales tax and import license fees.
According to the prosecution, it was reported by the directorate of inspection, customs and sales tax, Karachi, that Charlie Enterprised was owned by accused Haroon Rasheed. Its chief executive, Imtiaz Ali Taj, in collusion with certain officers and staff of Gwadar and Quetta Collectorate and other accused caused huge losses to the national exchequer.
It was alleged that during 1991 and 1992 they obtained rebate on the basis of bogus and fictitious export of art silk fibre (Jacquard) and glass marble, which were never physically exported from Gwadar to Dubai.
Mohammad Nawaz Butt, the then collector of customs in Quetta, and AC Mumtaz Ali Changezi, have been declared absconding accused in the five references.
JUSTICE NIZAM CASE: The district and sessions judge, East, Nisar Ahmed Shaikh, adjourned the hearing of the Justice Nizam murder case against Asif Ali Zardari and three other accused on the application of Mr Zardari’s counsel.
Defence counsel Shahadat Awan moved a written application in the court on the behalf of the husband of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and prayed the court to condone the absence of his client as he was sick and under treatment in Dubai. The judge granted his application and fixed May 28 for the next hearing.
Justice Nizam Ahmed, of Sindh High Court, and his son Nadim Ahmed, a lawyer, were shot dead in an attack on June 10, 1996 near their house in PECHS. The complainant, Group Captain (Retd) Sikandar, brother in law of Justice Nizam Ahmed, lodged an FIR of said incident in Ferozabad police station.
The killings were attributed to a dispute over a plot adjacent to Awami Markaz as Justice Nizam Ahmed had opposed commercialization and illegal allotment of the plot stated to be purchased by Javed Akhtar Pirzada as a front man of Asif Ali Zardari, accused in the case.
Asif Zardari and co-accused — Akhtar Javed Pirzada, Bilal Shaikh and Babar Sindhu -– are facing charges of double murder.
PUMP BLAST CASES: Judge Haq Nawaz Baloch of ATC-5 put off the hearing of two petrol pump blast cases against two alleged workers of the banned Harkatul Mujahideen Al-Aalmi after the statements of two prosecution witnesses.
The judge fixed March 29 for the next hearing after special public prosecutor Mazhar Qayyum examined Ali Aksar and Said Wali, who were also cross examined by defence counsel M. R. Syed.
Mehmood Ullah and Atif have been charged with causing the blast at Hussaini Petrol Pump and Asif Autos Petrol Pump on May 15, 2003 in Jamshed Quarters police limits.
