LAHORE: A special court for anti-corruption on Friday acquitted Rawalpindi former commissioner retired Capt Muhammad Mahmood Rai and land acquisition collector Waseem Tabish in the Rawalpindi Ring Road scam.

Both the accused persons had filed acquittal applications under Section 265-K of CrPC, saying the prosecution had failed to present any evidence against them. They said there was no possibility of conviction even after the conclusion of the trial proceedings.

The petitioners’ counsel argued the ACE had registered a fabricated case against his clients. He said the previous government had formed a three-member inquiry committee on the matter. He said two of the members had cleared the accused persons of the allegations while one recommended the FIR.

The counsel urged the court to exercise its powers under the law and admit the acquittal applications of the accused.

Judge Ali Raza observed the prosecution failed to prove its case against the accused beyond any iota of doubt. The judge allowed the applications and acquitted the accused persons.

The ACE had alleged that the former commissioner and the land acquisition collector caused over Rs10bn loss to the national exchequer by allowing some big developers of housing societies to establish five interchanges on the Ring Road.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2023