KARACHI, Aug 22: Justice Wahid Bux Brohi of the Sindh High Court adjourned on Thursday the hearing of an application for quashment of a criminal case pending in the court of the Special Judge Anti-corruption (Provincial) Karachi.

The provincial Anti-corruption Department initiated the criminal case against Chaudhry Mohammed Nawaz and Chaudhry Mohammed Gulzar, directors of Dreamworld Family Resort.

The allegation against them was that in 1993-94, as a third party, they had purchased 144 acres of agricultural land from respective allottees at a lower rate and got it converted into commercial use and established thereon Dreamworld Family Resort.

In the case the deputy commissioner West, Fazlur Rahman, was also cited as co-accused. The matter was investigated and the final challan was submitted before the Anti-corruption Court.

An application, under section 249-A, was moved before the trial court for co-accused, i.e., the deputy commissioner West, and the said application was allowed and, accordingly, he was acquitted. However, a similar application of co-accused Chaudhry Gulzar and Chaudhry Nawab was dismissed.

Consequently, an application for quashment of the case, under section 561-A of CrPC, was moved by the two accused through their counsel K. M. Nadeem.

The quashment application was taken cognizance of, and the High Court summoned R&P of the case. The matter was being heard from date to date with the participation of Raja Qureshi, the Advocate-General, Sindh.

Subsequently, Sindh Ordinance No III of 2001 was promulgated whereby such lands and grant and conversion thereof were cancelled but, however, the later provision of the law required the formation of a committee to fix the actual price of such land and grant regularization of such land on that price.

The case of the land in question was also considered. New prices were fixed and the two accused were called upon by the committee to pay the extra amount and obtain regularization of the plot.

As per schedule of payment prescribed, the accused paid 50 per cent of the extra amount by depositing the same into the account of the Sindh Board of Revenue with the State Bank of Pakistan. The remaining 50 per cent is to be paid in two equal quarterly instalments, acceptance whereof has been communicated to the committee.

The matter was fixed for further hearing in the light of subsequent developments that Anwar Tariq, Deputy Prosecutor-General NAB, submitted a statement along with an order of the former chairman of NAB, Khalid Maqbool, now Governor of Punjab, ordering the transfer of the case to NAB. The advocate- general, Sindh, supported the statement.

Counsel K. M. Nadeem, on behalf of the accused, claimed notice of the statement by submitting that the procedure was illegal and there was a division bench judgment of the High Court recently delivered in another case in which the legal procedure had been dilated upon. Mr Nadeem submitted that he would file objections and time might be granted.

Accordingly, the case was adjourned to Sept 5.

Hearing put off: A division bench of the Sindh High Court adjourned on Thursday the hearing of an appeal filed by four convicts against their sentence in the kidnapping, rape and murder case of an eight-year-old girl, Aisha, in the police limits of Azizabad police to Sept 2, adds APP.

The bench comprised Justice Roshan Ali Essani and Mujeebullah Siddiqui.

An anti-terrorism court had awarded life imprisonment with a fine of Rs100,000 each for murder of the child, and for kidnapping they were awarded seven years’ rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs50,000 each.

According to the prosecution, the four convicts, Mohammed Javed, Mohammed Imran, Abdul Rauf and Mohammed Siraj, kidnapped Aisha in Block 3 of Federal B- Area in a car on December 13, 1999 at 9pm. They took her to the house of Mohammed Javed in Azizabad, where they subjected her to assault which resulted in her death. Later, they dumped her dead body on the roof of house No 1046/3 in F. B-Area.

Trial in the ATC was held from January 14, 2000.

The ATC Judge, Arshad Noor Khan, convicted all the accused.

The convicts filed appeals before the Sindh High Court against the ATC judgment.