SHC dismisses appeals of Nisar Morai, others in corruption reference

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has dismissed appeals filed by a former Fishermen’s Cooperative Society (FCS) chairman and others against their conviction in illegal appointments and awards of fake contracts but reduced the seven-year imprisonment of each to four years.

Former FCS chairman Nisar Ahmed Morai, former vice chairman Sultan Qamar Siddiqui, Haji Wali Muhammad, Imran Afzal, Shaukat Hussain, Abdul Saeed Khan, Riaz Ahmed, Gul Munir and Abu Bakar were sentenced to seven-year imprisonment by accountability courts.

They were charged with illegal appointments of 400 employees in the FCS between 2014 and 2017, awarding illegal contracts of construction and embezzlement in trash fish sale without auction, causing losses to the national exchequer amounting to Rs343.796 million.

The petitioners’ counsel submitted that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed a reference on baseless allegations and the prosecution had failed to produce any sufficient evidence before the trial court. A NAB prosecutor, however, supported the trial court order submitting that the appellants were involved in corruption.

A division bench of the SHC comprising Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro and Justice Shamsuddin Abbasi, after hearing the arguments and perusal of evidence of the case, observed that the prosecution had successfully proved the charges of illegal appointments on Morai and awarding fake contracts to non-existent companies on Morai, Siddiqui, Muhammad, Afzal and Hussain beyond any shadow of reasonable doubt.

The high court observed that different sentences were awarded by the trial court although the offences were punishable under the same provision of the law. The court modified the seven-year imprisonment and reduced it to four years each.

The bench also directed the high-ups of NAB to take notice of what was happening in the investigation agency and how by way of dishonest investigation, favourites had been accommodated by destroying the case of the prosecution.

The high court observed that there should be a mechanism of checks and balances to ensure a just, fair and impartial investigation within the framework as required by the law without fear and favour from any corner and without nepotism and favouritism.