KARACHI, June 12: A division bench of the Sindh High Court comprising Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Justice Faisal Arab admitted for regular hearing an appeal moved by the relatives of a former revenue official challenging the forfeiture of their property by an accountability court (AC).

Former revenue secretary Khan Mohammed Mahar was sentenced on Feb 10, 2001 to a 10-year term and a fine of Rs140 million in a corruption reference by an AC, which had also ordered the forfeiture of the property registered under the name of his relatives.In their appeal, Fakir Jan Muhammad Mahar, his wife Jannat and daughter Rahat Mahar challenged a verdict by AC-I on May 31. In the impugned judgment, the previous verdict of another accountability court was upheld while the claim of the appellants was rejected with the order to forfeit their property.

The appellants submitted that there was not a single word suggesting that the accused had acquired the properties in question and he was in possession of the properties, or any motive to purchase the same in the name of the appellants in the evidence recorded by the trial court.

The appellants contended that the prosecution had failed to bring on record any material to prove that the properties in question belong to the accused.