KARACHI, July 25: The Sindh High Court on Monday issued the National Accountability Bureau a notice in a petition moved by a former provincial law minister in the PPP government for bail before arrest in two references pending against him.

Pir Mazharul Haq, who has returned home recently after grant of protective bail by the high court, appeared personally before a division bench, comprising Chief Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed and Justice Zia Pervez. He submitted that two references alleging illegal allotment of plots were pending against him but the official co-accused in the two cases, who belonged to the (defunct) Karachi Development Authority, had been acquitted by the trial accountability courts.

The bench asked the bureau prosecutor to appear and submit his comments on the petition on July 29. Mr Haq is on protective bail till July 31.

Notice to SITE MD: The Sindh High Court issued notices to the Sindh Industrial and Trading Estate managing director and two officials on Monday in a contempt application moved by a suspended SITE official.

Applicant Zahoor Ahmed Solangi submitted through Advocate Mohammad Nawaz Shaikh that on a petition moved by him the high court had ordered the SITE management to pay him his salary for the five years he remained suspended from service.

He was suspended as accounts officer in the Estate in 1999 and was denied his salary since. He said he was entitled to ‘suspension allowance’ amounting to full salary during his suspension under the law, rules and the court order but the Site management continued to withhold his salary.

A division bench, comprising Chief Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed and Justice Zia Pervez, asked the SITE managing director, finance director and internal auditor to appear on Aug 1 and answer the allegation of non-compliance with the court order.

In a contempt application moved by the residents’ association of Shumail Complex, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, meanwhile, asked the Karachi Electricity Supply Corporation to furnish the rates of bills issued to the petitioner residents on Aug 9. The residents complained that the KESC and the builders and developers of the complex have joined hands to fleece them and were trying to recover bills payable by the builders.

SHIP DETAINED: In an admiralty suit, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain ordered that the tanker Bunga Cenderewasia be detained at the Port Qasim till Tuesday. The order was passed on a suit instituted by a ghee mills through Advocate Nisar A. Mujahid. The plaintiff complained that it had ordered import of palm oil from Malaysia. The vessel unlawfully loaded a consignment short of the quantity shown in the bill of lading and otherwise disposed of a sizable quantity of the oil. The consignment weighed 900 tonnes less on arrival and it suffered a loss of $ 19,788.