KARACHI, Jan 13: Commodore Mirza Ashfaq Baig (retd), a co-accused in a corruption reference against former Pakistan Navy chief Mansoorul Haq, moved on Monday an application for his acquittal before the accountability court No 4.
Judge Mohammed Jawaid Alam, who is also the administrative judge of all the ACs in Karachi division, fixed Jan 20 for hearing arguments on the acquittal application.
The former navy chief and Commodore Baig (retd) have been charged with causing a loss of Rs1.8 billion to the national exchequer in the purchase of three vessels for the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation.
According to the prosecution, Mansoorul Haq, with criminal intent to obtain undue benefits, got an approval for purchase of the ships for the PNSC in 1994 from the then government.
When he was appointed chief of the naval staff, he allegedly plotted a conspiracy with absconder Rear Admiral Javed Ali (retd) and co-accused Ashfaq Baig for the purchase of the ships on inflated prices.
The three naval official were charged with violating the laid-down procedure, terms of approval, and buying the ships which were not technically suitable.
It was further alleged that purchase of the ships was against the selection criteria of the Board of Directors and the purchase had been carried out without considering the classification record of the ships, payment of customs, regulatory and other duties.
The ships were Apolonia, bought for $14.82 million and later renamed Sawat, Ora Bhum for $15.55m (Shalamar) and Independent Voyager for $16.77m.
The accused, allegedly in collusion, connivance and collaboration with each other and absconder Javed Ali, fraudulently misused the official authority to obtain undue benefits and they failed to exercise their authority to prevent the losses to the exchequer, and thereby committed an offence of corruption and corrupt practices as defined under section 9 of the NAB Ordinance.
The prosecution examined another two witnesses in the case on Monday. The PWs, Jahangir Siddiqui, director, board of directors, PNSC, and Mohammed Sajid, director of Jehangir Siddiqui and Company Ltd, were also cross-examined by defence counsel.
Iqtidar Ali Hashmi and Mohammed Shaiq Usmani appeared for Mr Haq, and Syed Farid Alam Rizvi for accused Baig, who is on bail. The prosecution is being represented by special public prosecutor Sarfraz Tanoli.
The prosecution earlier examined Mehmood Ali, GM, PNSC, Jawaid Mansoor, a former secretary of PNSC, Khusro Khwaja, an elected director, Arif Saeed, a former secretary of the PNSC, Bashir A. Vistro, manager, and Imtiaz Haider Rizvi, another PNSC official.
CASE AGAINST LAHORI: The anti-terrorism court No 5, headed by Judge Haq Nawaz Baloch, put off the hearing of Dr Syed Aley Safdar Zaidi murder case against the chief of the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, Akram Lahori, and two other activists.
The judge fixed Tuesday for further hearing of the case after recording the statements of another three prosecution witnesses.
The PWs, who were also cross-examined by the pauper advocate, Mohammed Ashraf Mughul, were complainant Razi Haider, Sub-inspector Ijaz Ali Khawaja and constable Ikhlaq.
Lahori, Mohammed Azam and Ataullah are being tried for killing Dr Syed Aley Safdar Zaidi of the Kidney Centre on March 4, 2002.
The doctor was on his way to the hospital from his Gizri residence when two motorcyclists opened fire on his car (ABU-495) when he stopped at a traffic signal near Sultan Masjid. He died on the spot.
The Gizri police had registered the case initially against two unknown assailants on the complaint of Syed Razi Haider Zaidi, a cousin of the deceased.
According to the final charge-sheet, the accused during interrogation confessed to have killed the doctor as he belonged to a rival sect.
CARBOMBING CASE: Judge Aley Maqbool Rizvi of the anti- terrorism court No 1 adjourned the hearing of the US consulate carbombing case against leaders of the Harkatul Mujahideen Al-Aalmi after recording the statements of another two prosecution witnesses.
The case against the self-styled chief of his own Aalmi faction of the banned organization, Mohammed Imran, his deputy, Mohammed Ashraf, and finance secretary Mohammed Hanif is being tried on the premises of Central Prison, Karachi, by Judge Aley Maqbool Rizvi of the ATC-1.
The three accused, being tried inside the Central Prison, Karachi, have been charged with their involvement in the US consulate carbombing that left 12 people, including five women, dead and 43 others injured.
The Civil Lines police have cited as many as 50 prosecution witnesses in the case.
A team of prosecutors, comprising Advocate-General Anwer Mansoor Khan, assistant AG Habib Ahmed, Maula Bux Bhatti, and Abdul Waheed Khan, is representing the state.
The two PWs, complainant SI Ali Gohar and SI Imtiaz, were also examined by defence counsel Abdul Waheed Katpur, Khawaja Naveed and Ali Raza Abidi.
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