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KARACHI, Aug 7: The dispute between the Mai Kolachi Co-operative Housing Society and the Pakistan Rangers over a piece of land situated Dek Okaweri, Tapo Sangal, District East, took a new turn on Friday when a cement factory claimed ownership and sought to be impleaded in the case as a necessary party.
The National Cement Industries (Private) Limited said in its application that the entire 79 acres of land comprised in the Mai Kolachi housing project was owned by it but was surrendered to the SHC official assignee as it went into liquidation and the assignee was appointed as the liquidator by the high court. Five acres of the land are the subject-matter of the dispute between Mai Kolachi and the Rangers, who claim that they too were allotted the land for housing. Mai Kolachi allottees have built houses on a large number of plots while the Rangers have also started construction at their own risk on the land claimed by them.
Notices of the application were issued to the official assignee and the two parties already before the court. The petition is fixed for hearing on August 13.
Probe deadline
The provincial finance and works secretaries, Ghulam Ali Pasha and Dr Fazlullah Pechoho, on Thursday appeared before the bench comprising the acting Chief Justice Azizullah M. Memon and Justice Khalid Ali Z. Qazi and informed it through Assistant Advocate-General Adnan Karim Memon that the cheques for Rs4.6 million issued to a petitioner contractor were cleared by an executive engineer dishonestly. They were dishonoured because the payment was not genuine and not because of shortage of funds as alleged by the petitioner.
Petitioner Javed Baloch of BB Enterprises had claimed in his petition that he carried out repair and maintenance works at the Civil and Lyari General Hospitals and other government buildings and cheques based on bills submitted by him were issued. However, the bank refused encashment saying that there were no funds in the account of the department concerned.
The secretaries told the bench that they had already instituted an inquiry against the executive engineer concerned for issuing cheques without verifying the work claimed to have been carried out by the contractor.
The bench asked the secretaries to complete the probe within 15 days, failing which the officials responsible for withholding the payment would be liable to be proceeded against under Section 489 (F) for dishonouring cheques.
NAB withdraws case
The appeals preferred by the National Accountability Bureau against the acquittal of the (defunct) National Development Finance Corporation chief Maula Bux Abbasi by an accountability court under the National Reconciliation Ordinance were withdrawn on Thursday. Islamabad-based NAB Prosecutor-General Danishwar Malik informed a bench consisting of Justices Ali Sain Dino Metlo and Rana Mohammad Shamim that the bureau had decided to withdraw the two appeals. Advocate Ismet Mehdi appeared for Mr Abbasi.
CAA union case
The bench also disposed of a petition moved by Zaheeruddin Babar claiming that he and his colleagues were the real office-bearers of Union of Civil Aviation Employees.
According to Advocate Gohar Iqbal, the petitioner’s counsel, the bench asked the National Industrial Relations Commission to decide the petitioner’s complaint in this behalf till August 31. The union, which was recently voted the collective bargaining agent for the employees of the Civil Aviation Authority, was barred from presenting a charter of demand in the meantime.
