KARACHI: The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) on Tuesday filed the final charge sheet against prime suspect Zameer Abbasi in the Rs8.5 billion Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Yellow Line graft case.
The investigating officer (IO) submitted the charge sheet against suspect Abbasi, a grade-19 officer of the Sindh government, and former KMP project directors for allegedly committing offences under Sections 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant, or by banker, merchant or agent), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 467 (forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document), 477-A (falsification of accounts) and 34 (common intentions) of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 5 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947.
Accepting the final report, Special Judge Anti-Corruption (Provincial) Muhammad Aminullah Siddiqui issued non-bailable warrants against two former directors — Tauha Aziz Syed and Saleem Hussain Bhayo —and adjourned the hearing until Nov 23.
In its order, the court noted that after examining the final report it found that, prima facie, the allegations levelled fell within the ambit of the offences triable by the court and that the record was sufficient to form an opinion that the “accused should stand trial”.
Issues non-bailable warrants for arrest of two former directors of Karachi Mobility Project
In the charge sheet, the IO alleged that suspect Abbasi had bypassed a rule stipulating that advance payments to contractors could not be authorised without an interim payment certificate.
Referring to the contractual framework, he stated that the suspect did not possess the unilateral contractual authority to certify or release payments without the formal written endorsement and validation of engineer concerned.
He alleged that Abbasi had signed all the cheques for illicit and illegal payments, and that his actions constituted “criminal negligence, misuse of official authority and financial fraud”.
Regarding former project director Jhaman Das, who is currently in judicial custody, the IO stated that he had ignored administrative protocols and released funds without mandatory verification.
He added that he had signed all the cheques for illicit and illegal payments.administrative protocols and released funds without mandatory verification.
He added that he had signed all the cheques for illicit and illegal payments.
As for the two absconding former directors, the IO claimed that they were also responsible for criminal negligence, misuse of official authority and financial fraud.
Earlier, in June, the ACE had booked Abbasi and others following an inquiry into alleged financial mismanagement in the KMP related to the Yellow Line.
The inquiry committee’s report stated that Mr Abbasi and then director of procurement Jhaman Das had made advance payments of Rs8.5bn to contractors without obtaining bank guarantees, despite the fact that their contracts did not contain any specific clause regarding “advance payment and financial assistance to the contractors”.
Recently, suspect Abbasi had secured bail in the case from the Sindh High Court. He was also booked in an alleged corruption case registered by the Federal Investigation Agency over his alleged involvement in transferring huge sums from provincial government accounts to his own bank accounts abroad.
His counsel confirmed to Dawn that he had also obtained bail in the second corruption case from the SHC.
Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2026
