KARACHI: An anti-corruption court on Tuesday indicted 18 people, including officers of the Sindh Building Control Authority and office-bearers of the Sindhi Muslim Cooperative Housing Society, in a case pertaining to encroachment upon a thoroughfare, where the now demolished Nasla Tower was illegally built.

The 15-storey commercial-cum-residential building on Sharea Faisal was demolished on the directives of the Supreme Court for having been built in violation of laws.

The building’s land owner Abdul Qadir (who passed away during pendency of the trial), the project’s builders, former SBCA director general Manzoor Qadir alias Kaka, Sindhi Muslim Cooperative Housing Society officials, Master Plan Department director and deputy director, their subordinates and those of other departments have been booked for illegal construction of Nasla Tower by occupying 341 sq-yards of a service road along Sharea Faisal.

On Tuesday, the provincial anti-corruption court judge read out charges to accused persons, who were present before the court on bail.

All the accused — including Naveed Bashir, Farhan Qaiser, Mohammad Asif, Wilayat Ali Data, Bashir Ahmed Khan, Hafiz Mohammad Javed, Khawaja Badi-uz-Zaman, Syed Mohammad Zia, Ashkar Dawar, Ali Ghufran, Ali Mehdi Kazmi, Abdul Sami Soomro, Safdar Magsi, Sarfaraz Hussain, Mustufa Rangwala, Muzzammil Ameen Darzi and Dr Ghous Mohammad Khan — pleaded not guilty and opted to contest the case.

Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2023