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KARACHI, Dec 7: An accountability court sentenced on Friday 10 accused, including two former chiefs of the National Development Finance Corporation, to three years’ rigorous imprisonment each in three different corruption references.
The three references pertained to default on repayment of loans secured by Northern Polyethylene Ltd (NPL) from the NDFC in violation of rules and regulations.
A former chief of the NDFC, M. B. Abbasi, an absconding accused in the reference No 34/2000, was sentenced to three years’ RI in absentia for deliberately avoiding the court proceedings.
Judge Mohammed Jawaid Alam of the AC-4 also sentenced Col Abdul Mateen (retd), a director of the NPL, to three years’ RI each in all the three references (Nos 34, 35 and 36 of 2000).
Accused Mateen, who had been on bail and was taken into custody after the announcement of the judgment, was also fined Rs10 million. The convict would have to undergo an additional six-month’ RI in case of default on the payment of fine.
Besides Abbasi, Intikhab Ali, Asghar Abbas, Syed Aftab Ali Khan, Mrs Mubarik Salman Siddiqui, Syed Afzal Husain and Younus Niazi Mali, all absconders, were also awarded an identical punishment in absentia for avoiding the proceedings in the reference which pertained to default on a Rs20-million loan.
The NPL had applied to the NDFC for financial facilities for setting up the polyethylene plant in 1995-96 when M. B. Abbasi was the NDFC chief. The firm was sanctioned Rs20 million in violation of rules and regulations.
Chaudhry Mohammed Munawwar, another former chief of the NDFC, was convicted along with co-accused Abdul Mateen in the reference Nos 35 and 36/2000, pertaining to the defaulted loans amounting to Rs82 million. The two accused were sentenced to three years’ RI with a fine of Rs10m each in each reference.
They will have to undergo an additional six months’ RI if they fail top pay the fine.
The former NDFC chief was charged for sanctioning two financial facilities, amounting to Rs40m and Rs42m, respectively, to the NPL in violation of rules and regulations.
The Commercial Banks Circle of the Federal Investigation Agency registered the cases against the former chiefs of the NDFC and the directors of the NPL. Both the bank officials were arrested.
The FIA submitted three separate chargesheets against the accused in the special court for offences in banks.
Later, Munawwar was bailed out, and Abbasi was released on parole on March 16, 1998 by the Sindh government for two months.
His parole was extended till he was granted a “one-time” permission on August 19, 199 by the federal government to travel abroad. He immediately left the country and since then he has been absconding in several corruption cases.
CONVICTED: The special anti-narcotics court, headed by Judge Ali Nawaz Pirzada, awarded four drug pushers different jail sentences.
Accused Afsar Ali and Javed, arrested on April 27, 1999 with two kg opium in Quaidabad, were sentenced to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs10,000 each. They would have to undergo an additional three months’ RI if they failed to pay the fine.
Accused Raza Khan, arrested on May 23, 1999 with 120 gram charas by the Quaidabad police, was sentenced to a 15 months’ RI with a fine of Rs3,000. He would have to undergo an additional three months’ RI in case of default on the payment of fine.
The judge sentenced Shireen Gul to 15 months’ RI with a fine of Rs1,000 for possessing 60 gram charas. He would have to undergo an additional one week’s RI if he failed to pay the fine. He was arrested on May 25, 1998 by the Gulzar-i-Hijri police.
