KARACHI, May 9: The Sindh High Court allowed on Thursday the appeals of Pir Maqsood Husain Sarhandi, former director of the Sindh food department, Ghulam Sarwar Qureshi, former deputy director of the same department, and Hasan Ali, contractor, and quashed the pending reference in the accountability court-III, Karachi, against them.

A special division bench, comprising Justice Shabbir Ahmed and Justice S. A. Rabbani, passed the order after hearing three identical criminal miscellaneous appeals praying for quashment of proceedings pertaining to a NAB reference pending in the accountability court.

According to reference 46/ 2000 filed by NAB, Sindh, with the accountability court-III, it was alleged that Maqbool Ahmed Shaikh, former Sindh minister of food, with the connivance of Pir Maqsood Husain Sarhandi, former director and Ghulam Sarwar Qureshi, former deputy director, extended undue benefit to Hasan Ali, contractor, by awarding contract to lift and transport wheat in violation of law. All the accused, in collusion with one another, caused a huge loss to the public exchequer.

Counsel for Maqsood Sarhandi, referring to the judgment announced by a division bench of the SHC on October 5, 2001 on appeal of Maqbool Ahmed Shaikh, submitted that the case of present applicants was not different from Maqbool Shaikh’s and judgment of division bench of the SHC was binding on other division benches.

He further submitted that counsel appearing for the state as well as NAB conceded that neither any loss had been caused to the government in this case nor had any law been violated.

Anwer Tariq, Deputy Prosecutor-General of NAB, submitted that evidence of three prosecution witnesses had been recorded under section 512 of CrPC as the applicants had absconded. He contented that in this instance the accused/ applicants should approach the accountability court for acquittal.

The bench observed that the main accused, Maqbool Shaikh, had filed an appeal before the High Court for quashment of proceedings against him which was allowed by a division bench of the SHC and proceedings against Maqbool Shaikh were quashed on October 5, 2001.

However, other accused, Pir Maqsood Husain Sarhandi and Ghulam Sarwar Qureshi and Hasan Ali, filed separate applications for quashment of proceedings pending against them in the accountability court in same reference, the bench held.

The court observed that proceedings in the case against the main accused, Maqbool Shaikh, had already been quashed and this quashment had not been questioned before the Supreme Court. The facts and circumstances discussed during proceedings of the case fully justified quashment of the proceedings against the present applicants pending before the accountability court on reference No 46, 2000. The applications were, accordingly, allowed and proceedings quashed, the bench held.—PPI