ISLAMABAD: The Accountability Court on Monday adjourned Bahria Icon Tower corruption reference against property tycoon Malik Riaz and others till March 1.

The hearing of Bahria Icon Tower corruption reference against property tycoon Malik Riaz and others was adjourned till March 1 without further proceedings due to absence of Accountability Court-1 judge Muhammad Bashir.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed the reference against Malik Riaz and others on illegal allotment of land of Bagh Ibn-e-Qasim to M/s Galaxy Construction (Pvt) Ltd (Bahria Icon Tower).

The other accused also included 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 Shafiqu Ahmed, former special secretary housing and Abdul Subhan Memon, former secretary Land Utilisation.

According to the NAB, the accused had allegedly allotted welfare plots, which incurred losses of more than Rs 100 billion to the national exchequer. The accused are allegedly involved in illegal allotment of Bagh Ibn-e-Qasim land to Bahria Town for its Icon Tower in Karachi, the reference further said.

According to the report of the joint investigation team (JIT) that probed 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