KARACHI, Sept 26: A division bench of the Sindh High Court admitted two accused to bail in the sum of Rs500,000 each in an accountability case.
The petitioners, Muhammad Ameen Qureshi and Abdul Ghani Mansoori, were arrested for misappropriation of utility bill amounts collected at the HBL Haidery branch.
The former was an officer of the bank while Mansoori was a sub-inspector in the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board.
The allegation against them is that they helped the main accused, Syed Iqbal Kazmi, cashier of the HBL Hyderi branch, embezzle
Rs31,626,302 during the 1998-2000 period. They moved writ petitions through Advocates I.A. Hashmi, Mohammad Ashraff Kazi and Siraj Munir Shah saying that they were innocent even by the prosecution’s account as they were not accused of misappropriating any amount.
The bench comprising Justices Sarmad Jalal Osmany
and Ali Sain Dino Metlo held that there was nothing to show that the petitioners were even in the knowledge of the misappropriation made by the cashier.
The provisions of Section 9 (a) (vi) of the National Accountability Ordinance regarding ‘wilful failure’ to prevent the commission of an offence was of no help to the prosecution as the word ‘wilful’ implies knowledge of the crime.
The bench said the case required further inquiry and asked the petitioners to furnish security amounting to Rs500,000 each and execute personal bonds in the like amount to the satisfaction of the trial accountability court for their release on bail.
MENGAL CASE: The Sindh High Court on Tuesday, continuing the interim stay on an anti-terrorism court's order in the army personnel hostage taking case against four employees of former chief minister of
Balochistan Sardar Akhtar Mengal, adjourned the hearing till Oct 4.
The adjournment came on the request of the applicant’s counsel, Azizullah K. Sheikh and Wazeer Hussain Khoso, who informed the court that the ATC had deferred announcement of verdict till Sept 30 while their application for registration of the case against army men was fixed for Sept 28.
They prayed the court to adjourn the matter for Oct 4 as the application pending before the sessions court be decided.
The SHC's division bench comprising Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Justice Ali Sain Dino Metlo granting the request adjourned the matter till Oct 4 and ordered that in meantime no order shall be passed by the ATC.
Mohammad Yousuf, brother of accused Mehboob Ali and relative of another co-accused, moved the SHC for injunction against the ATC's trial proceeding until his pending applica-tion against army personnel before the sessions court was decided.
He submitted that the SHO of Darakhshan was asked to apprehend army personnel and take action against them for chasing the vehicle carrying Sardar Mengal's children from school but instead he registered a case on the complaint of the army personnel.
The ATC headed by Judge Haq Nawaz Baloch, which declared Sardar Akhtar as absconder, is due to deliver verdict after concluding trial against his four employees, Nasarullah Mengal, Ghulam Hyder Langah alias Chappar, Mehboob Ali Satti and Ghulam Qadir, for kidnapping two army men and making them hostage on April 5.
According to the prosecution, Sardar Akhtar Mengal along with the other accused kidnapped Havaldar Qurban Hussain and Lance Naik Fayaz Ahmed in the Darakhshan area with the intention to kill them when the army men were going to perform their intelligence duty.
WOMAN’S HARASSMENT: The Sindh High Court on Tuesday issued notice to the advocate-general of Sindh and the DPO of Thatta and others on the petition of a woman against harassment.
Ms Nazia submitted that she married Mohammad Soomar on Aug 21 but her family members in connivance of the Thatta police were harassing the family of her husband and threatening them.
She alleged that the Thatta police had illegally detained her husband’s two brothers, Mataro and Ameen Sheedi, and threatened that if the petitioner's spouse did not appear in the police station his brothers would be implicated in false cases.
The SHC's division bench comprising Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Justice Ali Sain Dino Metlo after preliminary hearing of the petition issued notices to the respondents and called their comments.—PPI
