High court dismisses bail plea of MQM activist

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday dismissed the bail application of a Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) activist in the murder case of a rival party’s election candidate.

Ayaz alias Puppu was arrested by Rangers’ personnel for killing Shakil Ahmed, a Mohajir Quami Movement-Haqiqi (MQM-H) candidate for a provincial assembly seat, in Landhi area on May 11, 2013.

According to the prosecution, Ayaz along with others had killed Ahmed during the election campaign. The applicant’s counsel sought bail for his clients, arguing that no sufficient evidence had been put forward by the prosecution and the allegations needed to be investigated more. The court observed that no case for bail was made out and dismissed the bail application.

Pay order case

The high court dismissed the bail plea of the owner of a private company in fake pay order case. Asif Bashir Farooqui was booked by the Federal Investigation Agency on charges of submitting a fake pay order in a garbage-lifting bid. The FIA alleged that the accused had submitted a fake pay order of Rs20.97 million during a bid for the collection of garbage in different areas of Karachi.

Bail plea of ex-CS

The Sindh High Court directed the National Accountability Bureau to submit a report on the filing of a reference against a former chief secretary and others in case pertaining to the illegal allocation of six acres.

The former chief secretary, Siddique Memon, and other revenue officers had obtained protective bail in the NAB inquiry into the allocation of six acres in Scheme 33 in Karachi. NAB alleged that the accused had allotted the land to private person in violation of the laws.

The petitioners’ counsel submitted that the land committee headed by a retired judge of the high court had approved the allotment, and the ex-chief secretary was also a member on the committee on behalf of the land utilisation department.

They submitted that the land allotment had been cancelled later and no colossal loss caused to the national exchequer. The NAB counsel submitted that the revenue officers illegally allotted the land, and sought time to file a report on the reference against the petitioners.

The court, extending the protective bail of the petitioners, directed the NAB counsel to submit a report, and adjourned the hearing till April 11.

Bail plea dismissed

The Supreme Court dismissed the bail application of a man in a drug smuggling case. Gul Zaman was arrested with 70 kilograms of hashish by the Anti-Narcotics Force in July 2012.

The applicant’s counsel submitted that his client had been incarcerated in prison for the last five years, and the case was still pending in the trial court.

The court, after hearing the arguments of the counsel, observed that no case of bail was made out and rejected the application.