Land utilisation’s current, ex-secretaries indicted in graft case

An accountability court indicted former land utilisation department secretary Ghulam Mustafa Phul and the sitting secretary, Abdul Malik Chandio, in a corruption reference on Wednesday.

Both pleaded not guilty. They are alleged to have misused their powers and illegally disposed of government lands, causing losses to the national exchequer to the tune of around Rs600 million. 

They are also facing charges of preparing fake documents that, according to the prosecution, were then used to authorise illegal allotments.

The reference against the two has been filed in the accountability court by the National Accountability Bureau. 

The defendants said they had been falsely implicated in the corruption case. 

The court fixed January 25 to hear prosecution witnesses.