April 05, 2008	Saturday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 27, 1429

KARACHI, April 4: A division bench of the Sindh High Court on Friday stayed the acquittal of former Habib Bank vice-president Pir Deedar Hussain Sirhandi of charges of corruption.

The former HBL official was acquitted under the National Reconciliation Ordinance, 2007 on March 4, 2008 by the administrative judge of the accountability courts in Karachi, Syed Aley Maqbool Rizvi.

Mr Sirhandi was charged with misusing his power by illegally withdrawing Rs6.345 million under the yellow cab scheme.

The case against him was registered on behalf of the state by a National Accountability Bureau investigation officer.

The NAB challenged the acquittal decision under the NRO in the high court.

NAB Deputy Prosecutor-General Siddiq Mirza submitted in court that Mr Sirhandi’s acquittal under the NRO was illegal.

He argued that since Mr Sirhandi was a former banker, and not a political person, the rules and regulations of banking-related crimes should apply to him. Such crimes, he added, were not protected by the NRO. He prayed to the court to declare the accountability court’s order null and void and illegal.

The division bench comprising Justices Munib Ahmed Khan and Mrs Yasmin Abbassy after hearing the arguments stayed the acquittal of the former banker and adjourned the matter till a date in office.

Notices issued in mobile tower case

The Sindh High Court issued notices to respondents in a case pertaining to the installation of a telecommunications tower.

Such towers are known as Base Trans-receiver Station towers in technical parlance.

A division bench comprising the acting Chief Justice of the SHC, Azizullah M. Memon, and Justice Arshad Noor Khan issued notices to the town officer (municipal regulations), Telenor Pakistan, owner of the plot where the tower had been installed, Abu Bakr Shaikh, and others.

The petition was filed by Najeeb Ahmed and four other residents living in the proximity of the plot No 16, Row 2, Sector 1-A, Nazimabad, challenging the installation of the communications tower.

The petitioner maintained that the installation of the tower would pose a threat to the physical and mental health of the area residents.

They maintained that they had requested the UC nazim, town nazim and other authorities to stop the construction work but in vain. They were left with no choice but to opt for a legal battle.

They prayed to the court to order the cancellation of the no-objection certificate issued by the TO (MR) on March 7, 2008, order the company concerned to stop the construction work, order the demolition of the structure that had been erected so far and direct the respondent TO (MR) to seek/ call objections from the public before the issuance of any NOC.

The bench after hearing initial arguments issued notices to the respondents.

Meanwhile, the same bench also issued notices to respondents including Ex-serviceman Cooperative Housing Society in a dispute over the ownership of a plot.

The bench earlier heard the plea of Advocate Junaid Farooqui, counsel for the petitioner/ claimant, Mohammad Naseem, filed against Shameem Akhtar, senior civil judge, Malir, district officer, cooperatives and secretary cooperatives, Sindh.

The counsel submitted that the petitioner was a bona fide member and the original allottee but was being deprived of a plot by another claimant/ respondent Shameem.

The bench after hearing the counsel for the petitioner issued notices to the respondents for a date to be fixed later by the office of the court.

Bailable warrants

Justice Khawaja Naveed Ahmed of the Sindh High Court issued bailable warrants in a sum of Rs50,000 for the arrest of an alleged human trafficker and an accused in a fraud/ cheating case.

The court directed the Station House Officer of the FIA Passport Cell to arrest the accused and produce him in court on April 21.

The orders came when the court took up a bail plea by the accused, Habib Baloch, booked under Sections 420, 468, 471 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 22 (b) of the Emigration Ordinance, 1979 at the FIA, Passport Cell.

The applicant and co-accused, Anis Ahmed Khan, and Raja M.Ifran, had been accused of inducing and fleecing people seeking employment abroad.—PPI/APP