KARACHI, June 22: An accountability court sentenced on Saturday a former Sindh excise minister and five others to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment for causing a loss of Rs66 million to the provincial exchequer.

Judge Riaz Ahmed Phulpoto of the AC-2 also fined Rs20 million each former minister Ismail Rahu, Agha Wazir Abbas, former excise and taxation officer, Kaka Krishanchand, proprietor of Kohistan Wine Shop, and his manager Raj Kumar and Asher Jan, sales manager of Murree Brewery, Rawalpindi.

They would have to undergo an additional three years’ simple imprisonment if they failed to pay the fine.

The judge, who had reserved the judgment on May 16, also disqualified the convicts from holding any public office for 10 years.

The accused were charged with bringing liquor from Rawalpindi to Karachi on 33 fake import permits, issued by the Sindh excise and taxation department.

Special public prosecutor Feroze Mehmood Bhatti examined a total of 12 witnesses in the case, investigated by a deputy director of the Federal Investigation Agency, Haji Abdul Qadir, on the orders of the National Accountability Bureau.

The court had earlier declared former member of the Sindh Assembly Mehromal Jagwani, his manager Bhagwandas, and three officials of the excise and taxation department, Iqbal Solangi, Majeed Pathan and Niaz Ahmed, proclaimed offenders.

Besides, the prosecution agency had also shown 17 others as absconding accused in the NAB reference.

The court had also issued non-bailable warrants (NBWs) for the arrest of the absconding accused on different occasions. However, all of them moved revision petitions against the issuance of NBWs against them in the Sindh High Court, which admitted their petitions for hearing, and ordered the suspension of the NBWs issued by the trial court.

Judge Phulpoto, in his judgment, ordered that the case against all the other accused be kept dormant till the decision on their revision petitions.