A case against Fazal Inam alias Saeen Inam, the alleged "frontman" of property tycoon Malik Riaz, has been shifted from Rawalpindi to Lahore after the complainant expressed lack of faith in the anti-corruption judge.

Earlier this week, the complainant Umair, who is the resident of Islamabad's Rawat area — from where 732 kanals of land was transferred to Inam's name illegally — claimed that the Anti-Corruption Circle Rawalpindi judge Mushtaq Ahmed Tarrar was biased in the accused's favour.

According to the complainant, the judge had agreed to hear the bail plea filed by Inam and Sohail Maqbool, who is also a suspect, on June 11. Instead of sending a written notice, as per the usual practice, Umair was informed of the hearing through a phone call.

When the hearing commenced on June 11, the court gave the complainant ten minutes to hire a lawyer. The hearing was then adjourned until June 12 and the complainant's counsel was instructed to prepare his arguments for the bail plea.

Following these events, Umair requested the senior special judge of anti-corruption in Lahore to hear the case instead, which was accepted.

On June 12, Umair's lawyer submitted his request letter and the reply of Lahore's anti-corruption special judge. However, Tarrar said that the Lahore special judge's response does not have a stay order to adjourn the bail plea hearing. He gave the prosecution until June 14 to submit a written order that clearly says that the bail plea will be heard by the Lahore special judge.

On this, the counsel for Umair complied and submitted a stay order after which the Rawalpindi court refused to hear the bail plea which will now be heard on June 21 in Lahore by the anti-corruption special judge.

Saeen Inam was arrested by the Anti Corruption Circle after the authorities found that 732 kanals of land near Islamabad's Rawat area, worth millions of rupees, had been transferred to his name without any revenue record. The officials also arrested Inam's accomplice Fazal Arshad and the revenue official Illyas who allegedly transferred the land to Inam.

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