KARACHI, Oct 4: An accountability court deferred on Tuesday the judgment in a Rs167 million corruption reference against former chief of the Pakistan Steel Mills and three others.
Judge Parkash Lal Ambwani, who has deferred the judgment for three times, now fixed Oct 7 for delivering it.
Former PSM chairman Usman Farooqui, former deputy general manager of PSM A. H. Askari, and contractors Khawaja Qadeer and Khawaja Naseer have been charged with causing a loss of Rs167 million to the national exchequer.
The former PSM chief is an absconding accused in the case. Accused Askari is in custody, while the two contractors are on bail.
FRAUD CASE: An accountability court put off the hearing of a Rs298 million fraud case against four officials of the Pakistan Post Office after partly hearing the arguments of the defence counsel.
Mrs Qaiser Iqbal of the AC-1, who is also the administrative judge of all ACs, fixed Wednesday for the next hearing when defence counsel Ali Mukhtar Naqvi, Jahangir Khan and Iqtidar Ali Hashmi would continue their arguments.
Former postmaster Izhar Hussain Siddiqui, former postmaster-general, Sindh, Ehsan Baseer Shaikh, Arshad Ali, Mohammed Hussain and Sohail Siddique have been charged with misappropriation of funds in the City Courts Post Office.
MURDER CASE: An anti-terrorism court put off on Tuesday the hearing of a kidnapping and murder case against four accused after recording the statement of two prosecution witnesses.
Judge Arshad Noor Khan of the ATC fixed Wednesday for the next hearing after the deposition of Dr Jafferi, medico-legal officer at the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, and Sub-inspector Aslam Chandio.
Fayyaz alias Pappu, Muhammad Rehan Khan, Abdul Jabbar and Imran have been charged with the kidnapping and murder of Mohammed Ali, 30, in October last year in the limits of the North Nazimabad police.
The victim was kidnapped for ransom on Oct 10 and his body was found at a desolate place near Sohrab Goth on Oct 12 after the family failed to arrange the ransom.
The MLO stated that he had conducted the autopsy on the body of the victim. He said nine bullets pierced had the body.
SI Chandio deposed that he was on duty on the night between Oct 11 and 12 when he received information about the presence of the victim’s body near Sohrab Goth. He said he reached the spot where nine casings of Kalashnikov and TT pistol were also lying beside the body.
The prosecution witnesses were also cross-examined by S. M. Iqbal, defence counsel for Imran. Khawaja Naveed, counsel for Fayyaz, and Syed Mohammed Ali Shah, counsel for Rehan and Jabbar, however, did not cross-examine the two prosecution witnesses. The state is being represented by special public prosecution Naimat Ali Randhawa.
According to the prosecution, Fayyaz was arrested with some other suspects in North Nazimabad by a team of anti-violent crime cell (AVCC), who had gone to the vicinity to arrest some other suspects. A Kalashnikov and other weapons were seized from the suspects.
Later, during interrogation, Fayyaz confessed to have kidnapped and murdered Mohammed Ali along with his accomplices. The police on his lead arrested the other accused on different dates.
