ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court on Monday issued notice to respondents on a petition of National Account­ab­ility Bureau seeking to vacate the stay order on its move to auction six properties of Bahria Town in Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

When the petition came up for hearing by a division bench comprising Chief Justice Sardar Mohammad Sarfaraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Asif, NAB prosecutor Rafay Maqsood said that the accused, Malik Riaz Hussain and his son Ali Riaz, had entered into a plea bargain in the 190 million pounds case, but failed to pay the agreed amount. As a result, NAB had sought details of several properties, which were to be auctioned to recover the amount under Sec­tion 33E of NAB Ordinance, 1999.

However, the prosecutor added, NAB’s notice in this regard was challenged in a trial court and later dismissed. When the IHC was approached, it granted a stay order, he said, adding that a similar matter was raised before the Rawalpindi bench of the LHC, which directed the petitioners to approach the auction committee.

An attempt to invoke IHC’s stay order before the LHC bench was rejected, the division bench was informed.

After hearing the initial arguments, the IHC issued a notice to the opposing party and scheduled the next hearing for Aug 4. The chief justice, who was heading the bench, declared that if the other side failed to appear at the next hearing, the matter would be decided in accordance with the law.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2025