KARACHI, Aug 19 An accountability court acquitted on Thursday a former head of the now defunct National Development Finance Corporation and his co-accused for want of evidence in a corruption reference reopened after a Supreme Court verdict of 2009 overturned the National Reconciliation Ordinance.

M.B. Abbasi, a former chairman of the NDFC with the co-accused, was facing the charges of inflicting a huge financial loss on the NDFC during 1994-95 by committing numerous procedural and processing irregularities while granting financial facilities to a private firm.Mr Abbasi is Pakistan's ambassador to Iran now.

Judge Mir Mohammad Shaikh of the Accountability Court-II, who conducted the trial, pronounced the verdict after recording evidence of witnesses and final arguments from both sides.

The court observed that the prosecution had failed to prove its case against the accused persons beyond a shadow of a doubt.

According to the reference (27/2003) filed by the National Accountability Bureau, Sindh, the NDFC had approved a financial facility of Rs40 million in favour of the West Pakistan Tanks Terminal (Pvt) Ltd as a trade finance facility in 1994. Subsequently, the facility was converted into working capital funds for the purchase of molasses for export, and was disbursed in January 1995.

It added that the then chairman of the NDFC, in league with the sponsors (co-accused) — Sadaruddin Ganji, his son Hashim Sarduddin Ganji (absconder), Dawood (absconder) and Sajid Ali of the West Pakistan Tanks Terminal — committed numerous procedural and processing irregularities while granting the financial facilities.

The NDFC itself made inquiries into the matter with the consultation of Raza Kazim Associates. However, the NDFC had requested for legal action since the loan amount was still outstanding, and an FIR (40/1997) was registered against the accused in July 1997, the reference said.

However, the reference was withdrawn on April 1, 2008 under Section 7 of the National Reconciliation Ordinance. It was revived in the light of the Supreme Court's verdict against the NRO handed down on Dec 16, 2009.

Meanwhile, four suspected members of the proscribed Lashkar-i-Jhangvi were remanded in police custody, adds PPI.

The suspects have been booked and arrested for killing 11 people in targeted attacks, including Muttahida Qaumi Movement MPA Syed Raza Haider.