KARACHI, Jan 17: The accused should be produced before the accountability court at the time of filing of the reference as provided by Section 170 of the criminal procedure code, a division bench of the Sindh High Court ruled on Wednesday.
Alternatively, the accountability court should be apprised of the reasons behind the non-production of the accused. If he is absconding or has been granted bail, the court should be accordingly informed.
The bench, which consisted of Justices Rehmat Husain Jafri and Munib Ahmed Khan, gave the ruling after hearing Advocate Iqtidar Ali Hashmi, former National Accountability Bureau counsel M. Anwar Tariq, Advocate Minhaj Farooqui and NAB Deputy Prosecutor-General Shafaat Nabi Khan Sherwani. The issue was taken up by the bench in view of the large number of pre-arrest bail applications moved by the accused in NAB references.
Several accused in the teachers’ housing loans scam investigated by the NAB applied for pre-arrest bail through Advocates I. A. Hashmi, M. Anwar Tariq and Minhaj Farooqui. According to the preliminary inquiry, housing loans amounting to Rs100 million were obtained in the name of Sukkur schoolteachers and education department employees. The teachers and officials were paid Rs10,000 each for handing over their documents for securing loans by two officers of accounts and education department. The applicants were only nominally responsible for receipt and repayment of loans.
ORDERS RESERVED: An election tribunal comprising Justice Mushir Alam reserved its orders in the election petitions filed by PPP candidates from NA-211 and PS-19 (Naushero Feroze) in the 2002 general election. Petitioners Zulfiqar Ali Behan and Qurban Ali Behan maintained that the successful candidates, Dr Abdul Ghaffar Jatoi and Arif Mustafa Jatoi, were highly influential and indulged in irregularities in complicity with certain members of the election staff. Their industrial concern, Jatoi Food Industries, they alleged, was a defaulter. The hearing was completed on Wednesday and the order reserved for announcement next month.
BAIL AMOUNT CUT: A division bench comprising Justices Mushir Alam and Mrs Yasmeen Abbasy reduced the amount of security for release of four interned immigrants claiming Pakistani nationality on the basis of kinship and birth.
Ms Sana, Ali Mohammad and his wife and son were interned by the special police for deportation to India. They moved a petition in the high court through Advocate Zameer Ahmed Bhutto for grant of nationality under the Citizenship Act saying that they were Pakistani citizens under the law and had migrated from India to the UAE 14 years ago. They disposed of all their assets and deposited the proceeds amounting to Rs5 million in a bank at the Pakistan Chowk, Karachi. Ordering their release, the court directed that the amount be kept as security. The amount was reduced to Rs200,000 each on Wednesday.
Deputy Attorney-General Akhter Ali Mahmud claimed privilege for the interior ministry record containing reasons for denial of citizenship to the four petitioners. The court asked to produce the record in chamber and adjourned further proceedings to February 6.
