KARACHI, Nov 11: The Sindh High Court dismissed on Monday a retired admiral’s plea for acquittal in a corruption case.

Rear Admiral Syed Hamid Khalid (retired) had sought his acquittal under section 249A of CrPC from trial in an anti-corruption court as, according to him, there was no possibility of his conviction on the basis of the material placed on record by the prosecution.

As managing director of the Bahria Foundation, he said, he was not a public servant and could not be proceeded against under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The special anti-corruption court dismissed Mr Khalid’s application and he moved an appeal in the high court through Advocate Khwaja Naveed Ahmed. He is accused of unauthorizedly sanctioning an unsecured loan of Rs3.52 million to a joint venture company of the Bahria Foundation, Comexindo Bahria (Pvt) Limited. Comexindo transferred the loan to another company known as Cosine Agencies (Pvt) Limited, thereby causing a loss of Rs3.52 million to the Foundation.

Advocate Khwaja Naveed submitted before Justice Ataur Rahman on Monday that the Bahria Foundation employees were not public servants in contemplation of the law and were not, therefore, subject to the 1947 Act, which excluded private individuals from its purview. The court, however, rejected the contention.

Deputy Attorney-General Nadeem Azhar Siddiqui opposed the plea on behalf of the federal government and Advocate Yasin Azad on behalf of the Foundation.