ISLAMABAD: The accountability court (AC), on Thursday, fixed October 7 (today) for the announcement of its judgment on Bahria Icon Tower case against property tycoon Malik Riaz and others.
The AC-I judge Muhammad Bashir while hearing the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) reference against Malik Riaz and others regarding the illegal allotment of land of Bagh Ibn-e-Qasim to M/s Galaxy Construction (Pvt) Ltd (Bahria Icon Tower), said the court will deliver its judgement on Friday (today) on a petition filed by the accused of the Bahria Icon Tower case, in which, they challenged the pecuniary and territorial jurisdiction of the court.
During the hearing, the investigation officer (IO) National Accountability Bureau (NAB) submitted the value of the plot (value of the offense) on the basis of which this case has been made.
The court during the previous hearing directed the NAB to determine whether the value of the plot on the basis of which this case has been made is less than Rs500 million or Rs500 million.
Farooq H Naek, the defense counsel had challenged the territorial jurisdiction of the Accountability Court under the National Accountability (Second Amendment) Act, 2022, in this case during the previous hearing.
He requested the court to send back this reference to the NAB as it does not fall under the ambit of this court. He told the court that under the National Accountability (Second Amendment) Bill, 2022 – corruption cases amounting to less than Rs500 million do not come under the purview of the NAB.
He said that Bahria Icon Tower case involves charges of less than Rs500 million; therefore, it should be returned to the NAB.
The NAB had filed the reference against Malik Riaz and others for illegal allotment of land of Bagh Ibn-e-Qasim to M/s Galaxy Construction (Pvt) Ltd (Bahria Icon Tower).
The other accused also include Manzoor Qadir Kaka, former chief controller of building and Ahmad Ali Riaz, former director and chief executive officer (CEO) of Bahria Town, Yousaf Baloch, former senator, Dinshaw H Anklesaria director M/s Galaxy Construction (Pvt) Ltd, Zain Malik Director M/s Galaxy Construction (Pvt) Ltd, Waqas Riffat, director M/s Galaxy Construction (Pvt) Ltd, Liaqat Ali Qaim Khani, former director general (DG) Parks and Horticulture KMC, Gulam Arif, senior director Estate KMC, Khawaja Shafiq Ahmed, former special secretary housing, and Abdul Subhan Memon, former secretary Land Utilisation.
According to the NAB, the accused had allegedly allotted a welfare plot, which incurred huge losses to the national exchequer.
According to the report of the joint investigation team (JIT) that probed the fake accounts case, Bahria Icon Tower, Pakistan’s tallest twin-towers (102-storey) project is under construction on the land of M/s Galaxy Construction (Pvt) Ltd and precious Bagh Ibn-e-Qasim land is one such discovery where land grabbing and money-laundering became very evident.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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