KARACHI: An accountability court on Saturday provided copies of documentary evidence to former mayor and Pak Sarzameen Party chairman Syed Mustafa Kamal and others in a reference about alleged illegal allotment of land.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed a reference against the former mayor and others last month regarding alleged illegal allotment of around 5,500 square yards of commercial land to Bahria Town for a multistorey building in Clifton.

The PSP chief, who obtained interim bail from the Sindh High Court on Friday, and other suspects appeared before the trial court and the accountability court judge provided them copies of the reference, a mandatory requirement before the indictment, as required under Section 265-C (supply of statements and documents to accused) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

The former mayor contended that NAB levelled a baseless allegation of illegal allotment against him and maintained that the allegation of illegal allotment was not mentioned in the reference against him, but in the title of the reference.

The court directed him to file an application in case of any objection over the title of the reference and adjourned the hearing till Aug 17.

Besides the former nazim, NAB also named the then district coordination officer Fazlur Rehman, then executive district officer Iftikhar Kaimkhani, then district officer Mumtaz Haider, then additional DO Syed Nishat Ali, then sub-registrar-II, Clifton Nazir Zardari, Zain Malik, the son-in-law of real estate tycoon Malik Riaz, builders Mohammad Dawood, Mohammad Yaqoob, Mohammad Irfan and Mohammad Rafiq all associated with M/s DJ Builders and Developers as suspects in the reference.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2019