LAHORE: An accountability court on Saturday acquitted former chairman of the National Insurance Company Limited (NICL), Ayaz Khan Niazi, and three others in one of the corruption cases relating to land in Lahore.

Other acquitted suspects include NICL’s former chief financial officer Muhammad Zahoor, former general manager (real estate) Syed Zahid Hussain and ex-director Amin Qasim Dada.

In the 46-page acquittal verdict, Presiding Judge Chaudhry Ameer Muhammad Khan observed that the prosecution failed to bring on record any evidence against the suspects.

“Therefore, this court has no other option except acquitting the accused persons,” said the judge, adding there was no incriminating evidence even against the two co-suspects, namely Mohsin Habib Warraich and Javed Syed and their abscondance was not proved on record.

The judge discharged bail bonds of the suspects and also cancelled warrants of arrest, if any, against Warraich and Syed.

The NAB alleged that Warraich’s company, Messrs Privilege, purchased 803 kanals from the NICL at Mauza Toor, Lahore, for Rs1.68 billion. The company allegedly sold the land without getting the property mutated in its favour.

The NICL also sold land measuring 20 kanals near the Lahore Airport Road to Mohsin Warraich for Rs1.7bn. It sold the land at rate of Rs5.3 million per kanal, although its market value was much higher.

Initially, the case was being investigated by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and later it was transferred to the NAB in 2014 on the order of Supreme Court. The matter was unearthed in 2009.

The bureau presented 24 witnesses in the case. It said the suspects caused a loss of Rs915 million to the national exchequer.

However, the judge ruled that the prosecution had not presented any evidence to show actual price of the subject land. He said the prosecution also failed to establish its point of land’s market value.

Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2020