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ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday modified its earlier directive for the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to submit a reference after completing investigation within 45 days into alleged illegal allotment of state land in Karachi to real estate developer Bahria Town.
A two-judge bench consisting of Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali and Justice Amir Hani Muslim modified the Aug 13 directive with “to act in accordance with law” when senior counsel Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, appearing on behalf of Bahria Town, contended that the order was not dictated in the open court. And to substantiate his claim, he referred to senior counsel Ali Zafar and Farooq Naek who had also agreed that the order was not dictated in the court.
But Justice Muslim, the author of the order, regretted the way the judges were being maligned and also disputed the claim that the order was not dictated in the court.
On Thursday, NAB Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry informed the bench that the bureau was trying its best to implement the court orders and had made changes in its policy over the past two-and-a-half years to make the investigation process more transparent and fair.
The court ordered NAB to submit a comprehensive report on investigations in the first week of December.
The apex court had issued the Aug 13 order during the hearing of a number of applications against illegal allotment and adjustment of land in 43 Dehs by the Malir Development Authority (MDA) in Karachi.
It had directed NAB to submit a reference to the accountability court concerned in 45 days.
During the hearing in Karachi, the court had asked why NAB being an independent institution kept investigations to linger on for two or three years and cause harassment to people when it was bound to complete probe within a stipulated time.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had refrained Bahria Town from undertaking any development activity on the state land allotted to it by the MDA illegally.
According to a NAB report, the total land consolidated by the MDA and handed over to Bahria Town was 9,385 acres. The land is located about 9km from Toll Plaza on the Karachi-Hyderabad superhighway.
Published in Dawn, November 18th, 2016
