ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday granted pre-arrest interim bail to former chief minister of Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah in the fake bank accounts case against Rs500,000 surety bonds till Aug 29.

Mr Shah’s counsel argued before the court that as his client is cooperating with the investigation team of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) his bail petition should be accepted.

The former chief minister stated in his petition, which cited the chairman and other officials of the National Accountability Bureau as respondents, that the anti-graft watchdog is conducting an investigation into alleged illegal allotment of an amenity land of Bagh Ibn-i-Qasim and its illegal amalgamation with two plots of the Karachi Development Authority (KDA).

He contended that one Sajjad Ali Abbasi was taken into custody by NAB on the allegation that he, being the executive district officer (revenue), Karachi, was part of the committee that granted amenity plot to Galaxy Construction Private Limited and that he was also part of the Sindh Land Committee which regularised the land falling as part of Bagh Ibn-i-Qasim to the said company.

The petitioner explained that Galaxy Construction had submitted an application on May 20, 2008, to the chief minister office, seeking allotment of the land. He said the application was referred to the relevant authorities and Sajjad Abbasi recommended land allotment to the construction company at the rate of Rs70,000 per square yard.

On June 25, 2008, the scrutiny committee formed a sub-committee comprising officers of land utilisation and local government departments.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2019