SHC restrains NAB from arresting suspects in illegal land allotment case

The Sindh High Court restrained the National Accountability Bureau from arresting former chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and provincial information and transport minister Sharjeel Inam Memon in a fresh reference pertaining to charges of illegal conversion, exchange and transfer of state land to a private builder in Malir.

Syed Qaim Ali Shah and Sharjeel Inam Memon had challenged the new reference filed by NAB before the administrative judge of accountability courts in which they were included as co-accused along with the private builder, government revenue officials and others. The reference pertains to illegal conversion, exchange of 17,671 acres of land, which allegedly caused a loss to the national exchequer to the tune of Rs708 billion.

The petitioners counsel challenged the jurisdiction of the reference before the accountability court as they fall under section 4(2) (d) and (e) of the national accountability Ordinance 1999 as amended.

They submitted that a number of references have been filed against the petitioners and as such this new reference against them might be based on malafide intention. They submitted that the accountability court has issued summons against them for their appearance before the court and requested the high court to suspend the trial court’s summons till a decision of the petitions.

A high court division bench headed by Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha suspended the summons of the accountability court and ordered that they should not be arrested until the next date of the hearing against furnishing a surety of Rs100,000 each to the satisfaction of the Nazir.

The court also ordered that the trial court proceed against all other persons in the reference in accordance with the law until such time the jurisdiction issue is decided by the court. It also issued notices to a federal law officer, a special prosecutor of NAB and others and called their comments on March 5.

NAB had filed the reference against 33 persons, including a former managing director the Malir Development Authority, former Sindh Building Control Authority’s directors general, former deputy commissioner Malir and other revenue officials.

NAB alleged that accused in active connivance of each other grabbed 17,671.87 acres under the grab of “adjustment/exchange/consolidation in 2013-14 in sheer violation of law for private builder, causing a colossal loss of over Rs708.08 billion to the national exchequer.