KARACHI: An accountability court indicted on Saturday a provincial legislator belonging to the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party and others in a corruption reference pertaining to fraudulent sale of coal.

The National Accountability Bureau had booked MPA Faqir Dad Khoso, former secretary to the chief minister Sohail Akbar Shah, former directors of mines and mineral development Manzoor Hussain Memon and Abdul Rasheed Solangi, former president of the Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry Goharullah and six others for allegedly granting permission to a coal-mining company to excavate and sell coal in the open market in violation of the agreement and lease deed, causing a loss of around Rs2.5 billion to the national exchequer.

Judge of accountability court-I Rashida Asad read out the charges against the accused persons, who pleaded not guilty and opted to contest the charges.

Reference linked to fraudulent sale of coal

The court summoned the prosecution witnesses for Aug 12 to record their evidence.

According to NAB, the Sindh Coal Authority had leased out 8,626 acres in 2006 for mining at Lakhra in Jamshoro to M/s Fateh Textile Mills Ltd (FTML) (Goharullah and some others were its directors), to install a 200MW power plant within a five-year period, but it failed to establish the plant within the period and subsequently the lease was cancelled.

It maintained that FTML did not make any investment to set up power plants but illegally sold tonnes of coal in the open market, adding that as per terms of the memorandum of understanding signed between FTML and the provincial authorities, the mining firm was required to determine whether suitable quality and quantity of coal could be mined, handled, washed and transported to the site of power plants to produce 200MW electricity.

NAB further said that the then director general of the SCA, Syed Abbas Ali Shah, had inspected the site where the washing plant was to be installed. He had observed that FTML was not serious at all in establishing a modern or semi-modern coal washing plant and a coal-fired power plant and, therefore, had recommended the cancellation of the agreement.

However, Sohail Akbar had communicated to the SCA’s DG that he had received verbal directions from the chief minister to allow the FTML to excavate coal for the washing plant and sell the surplus until the plants were set up, it added.

NAB further alleged that all the accused in connivance with one another sold the extracted coal in the open market in utter violation of the agreement and the lease deed, causing losses of Rs2.503bn to the national exchequer.

MQM-P leaders’ pre-arrest bails extended

Two antiterrorism courts extended on Saturday interim pre-arrest bail of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan chief Dr Farooq Sattar and senior deputy convener Amir Khan in more than 30 cases for listening to the alleged hate speeches of party founder Altaf Hussain.

Dr Sattar, the party founder and almost the entire leadership have been booked in dozens of cases mostly registered in 2015 at different police stations of the city for allegedly facilitating and listening to speeches of the party founder in which he allegedly criticised the military establishment and other state institutions. The speeches included a highly provocative diatribe on Aug 22 last year outside the Karachi Press Club that triggered a violent protest, arson attacks and ransacking of media houses.

Around 30 cases were fixed before ATC-I on Saturday for arguments on the bail applications both for confirmation or otherwise and the court extended their interim bail till Aug 19 and directed the investigating officers to ensure their presence with police files in the next hearing. The court also asked the defence lawyer to argue on the bail applications in the next hearing.

The cases pertained to Altaf Hussain’s July 12 speech in which he had allegedly accused the Rangers’ chief and his subordinates of violating the army code of conduct during the ongoing Karachi operation. Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar, MPAs Khawaja Izharul Hasan and Rauf Siddiqui have already obtained bail in the cases.

Meanwhile, ATC-II also extended the interim pre-arrest bail of both leaders in two cases registered at the Artillery Maidan police station last year after the highly provocative speech of the MQM founder on Aug 22.

While extending the bail till Aug 25, ATC-II directed the applicants’ counsel for augments on the bails at next hearing.

Meanwhile, the court reserved its orders on bail applications of MQM-London leader Ashraf Noor and two other suspects in both cases till Aug 25.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2017