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KARACHI, June 20: An inspection report commissioned by the Sindh High Court confirmed on Friday that the five acres of land claimed by the Pakistan Rangers for their housing colony at Deh Okewari, Tapu Sangal, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, District East, Karachi, formed part of the 79.20 acres allotted by the provincial government to Kolachi Co-Operative Housing Society in 1996.
The court nazir submitted a detailed report, saying that confusion was created by an official letter leasing out a piece of land to the Rangers for ‘operational purposes’ without transferring its ownership for any other purpose.
There was some overlapping and part of the Kolachi land was apparently also leased out to the Rangers. But the Rangers were raising construction on the disputed site and a Rangers official took exception to a lawyers’ presence when the nazir visited the site in pursuance of a court order.
The high court made it clear by an interim order that the Rangers would be raising any construction at their own risk as the fate of the disputed land was still to be adjudicated. Illegal structures would be demolished at the cost of the respondent, the court order said.
According to revenue officials questioned by the nazir, there was no entry in favour of the Rangers in the record of rights in respect of the land.
According to the report, the allotment of land to the Kolachi Housing Society was cancelled under an ordinance issued in 2001 for having been leased out at below the market rates. The society paid Rs400 million by way of price differential to have its allotment regularized.
Directing the provincial land utilization department to clarify the status of the disputed land, a division bench comprising Justices Mrs Yasmin Abbasy and Ghulam Dastgir A. Shahani adjourned further hearing to July 7. Deputy Attorney-General Badar Alam and Additional Advocate-General Sarwar Khan appeared for the respondent federal and provincial governments and Advocate Masroor Ahmad Alvi for the petitioner.
The bench, meanwhile, issued a notice to the Karachi Building Control Authority in a petition moved by the Sindh Muslim Housing Society against construction of a commercial complex on plot number 55 of its block ‘A’ in violation of the building rules and the society’s own by-laws. Respondent owner Jibran Atiq said in his comments that the conversion of the plot from residential to commercial was approved by the KBCA. Issuing a notice to the authority, the bench adjourned further hearing to a date in office.
Surety refund allowed
Another division bench consisting of Justices Rana M. Shamim and Ghulam Dastgir A. Shahani allowed refund of surety amount deposited for release on bail of Syed Asim Raza Shah, son-in-law of the late chief minister Syed Abdullah Shah. A bank executive involved in an accountability case, Asim died of cancer recently. He was enlarged on bail by the high court against a surety of Rs500,000 and a personal bond in the like amount.
The bench also restrained the National Accountability Bureau from arresting Ghulam Qadir Panhwar, former district revenue officer, Thatta, directing him to join the investigations. Mr Panhwar is required by the NAB for allegedly unlawfully allotting 550 acres of state land to his relatives in ‘benami’ transactions.
A former sub-registrar of properties, Abdul Baqi Meher, was, meanwhile, allowed to proceed abroad to meet members of his family in London. He is on bail in an accountability case.
Container scandal
Meanwhile, the bail application of an accused in massive duty evasion case was adjourned to a date in office for paucity of time. According to the prosecution, directorate-general of customs intelligence and investigation, a whole lot of 173 containers were taken away from the Port Qasim International Container Terminal for transshipment to dry ports in various parts of the country. However, the containers were dismantled in Karachi and the consignments of mainly electronic goods were disposed of in the city or dispatched to other parts of the country. In all, 72 FIRs have been registered, including 32 in Lahore, 24 in Faisalabad and 14 in Peshawar.
The two accused arrested are Mohammad Naeem Qureshi and Jamal Durrani of Naila Jamal International Clearing and Forwarding Agents. Qureshi is detained in Karachi while Durrani is in custody at Lahore. Qureshi moved the trial Customs Court for bail and approached the appellate tribunal consisting of Justice Mahmood Alam Rizvi of the SHC when his plea was dismissed.
Bail refused
Justice Rizvi, meanwhile, rejected the bail application of Salman Raza Khan, who is accused of killing his wife, Sania, at their Gulshan-i-Iqbal apartment on March 13, 2007. Sania had a bullet injury in her chest and Salman and his mother and sisters said she had committed suicide. The police first exonerated Salman but after replacement of the investigation officer, booked him for his wife’s murder.
Justice Rizvi said in his order that circumstantial evidence hinted at the prima facie involvement of the accused. The investigator officer does not seem to have shown partiality.
