Qaim Ali Shah granted interim bail in land allotment case

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday accepted interim bail plea of former Chief Minister, Sindh, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, till August 29 in illegal land allotment investigation connected with fake bank accounts reference. The court accepted bail against the surety bonds for Rs0.5 million and also directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to submit their reply.

A division bench of Islamabad High Court, comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Mohsin Akhter Kiyani, took up the former chief minister Sindh plea seeking interim bail. Qaim Ali Shah’s counsel told the court that his client is regularly attending the NAB investigation and cooperating with the investigation team.

He requested the court to grant interim bail to Qaim Ali Shah till the conclusion of NAB investigation against him. After hearing the arguments, the division bench of Islamabad High Court accepted the interim bail of Qaim Ali Shah and adjourned hearing of the case.

Former CM Sindh Qaim Ali Shah, in his plea, stated that NAB was conducting investigation regarding illegal allotment of amenity land of Bagh Ibn Qasim and unlawful amalgamation with two plots of Karachi Development Authority (KDA).

He further stated that NAB had already arrested former executive district officer revenue Karachi Sajjad Ali Abbasi, who was part of the committee that granted the amenity plot to Galaxy Construction Private Limiter and further also the part of the Sindh Land Committee which regularised the land falling as part of Bagh Ibn Qasim to the company. The accused Abbasi had also been granted an interim bail on June 14.

He further pleaded that Galaxy Construction had submitted an allocation to the chief minister officer on May 20, 2008, seeking allotment of the land. The application was referred to the relevant department and Sajjad Abbasi recommended the land allotment to the construction company at the rate of Rs70,000 per square yard.