PIA Housing Society: ACE issued notice over probe into ‘illegal sale of amenity plots’

Karachi
The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday issued notices to the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) and others on a petition against initiation of an inquiry against the land affairs of the PIA Employees’ Cooperative Housing Society.
The secretary of the housing society had moved the court against the ACE’s inquiry with regard to allegations of the amenity plots of the housing society being illegally sold.
The ACE had initiated the inquiry on complaint of society’s resident Sheikh Arif-ur-Rehman against the secretary, Afzal, and others for selling out the plots reserved for schools, dispensary and other amenity purposes on cheaper rates.
The petitioner submitted that the ACE did not have any lawful authority to carry out investigations into the affairs of the society and that the management of the society had previously been cleared of such allegations.
The ACE had issued notices to the secretary and had asked him to submit the society’s records, whereas the IO had also raided the housing project’s office and confiscated several documents from its office.
The court was requested to restrain the ACE from conducting an inquiry into the society’s affairs and set aside the call-up notice issued to the petitioner.
The court after preliminary hearing of the petition issued notices to the ACE, IO and others, and also directed the IO to abide by the law.

Freewill marriage
An IO of Hyderabad police was directed by the SHC to record the statement of a woman in a freewill marriage case.
Petitioner Aqsa had submitted in the court that she had married, Natho alias Natha, out of her free will on October 19 but her family members registered a criminal case against her spouse and in-laws because they disapproved of the marriage.
The petitioner requested the court to quash the criminal proceedings against her spouse as she was not abducted but had consented to the marriage.
The court directed the IO to record the statement of the petitioner under section 161 of the criminal procedure code and bring it on the court’s record. The court directed the police to not arrest the petitioner’s spouse and other persons nominated in the case till the next date of hearing.