KARACHI: An anti-corruption court issued non-bailable arrest warrants on Friday for senior Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Amin Fahim and the former director of NICL, Qasim Amin Dada, in the NICL Case.

During the hearing which took place in the Special Federal Anti-Corruption Court-II, Karachi, the court expressed its dissatisfaction over Fahim’s absence from the hearing.

Fahim’s lawyer submitted to the court an apology on behalf of his client, and said that the lawmaker was not present for the hearing because he was busy with parliamentary duties.

The court ordered authorities to ensure the presence of Fahim in the next hearing of the case and issued non-bailable warrants for the arrest of the PPP president and Qasim Dada.

The former federal minister was facing charges under Section 420 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). Both accused had allegedly caused huge financial losses to the national exchequer by violating rules in the procurement of a piece of land in Korangi.

According to the original charge sheet, a total of Rs900 million was embezzled in the purchase of the land in question, with Rs41 million of this amount being transferred in the loan account of Fahim and members of his family in a private bank.

On the other hand, Sindh High Court ordered DIG and SSP South to submit a response by August 18, regarding the Hamza Ahmed murder case. Ahmed, a 17 year old O-level student was allegedly gunned down by the guard of another teenager, Mohammad Shoaib, on the night of April 27 in Defence Housing Authority. Talib Suhail, the father of the deceased, asked the court to resume court proceedings regarding his son’s murder.