ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) senator Saleem Mandviwalla and his brother accused in Kidney Hills corruption reference on Friday filed an application before Accountability Court seeking de-freezing of property.

Mandviwalla filed the application through his counsel before the Accountability Court-I judge Muhammad Bashir hearing corruption reference regarding illegal allotment plots of Overseas Cooperative Housing Society Limited (OCHSL) (Kidney Hill) against Mandviwalla and others requesting the court that the property flat no 702, 7th floor, plot no FT-I/4-I situated at Frere Town Quarters, Karachi may be de-freezed.

The court issued notice to the investigation officer (IO) and sought a reply from him regarding the application filed by Mandviwalla.

The court adjourned the hearing of the case till May 31.

According to the application filed by the accused, the applicant owns the property flat no 702, 7th floor, plot no FT-I/4-I situated at Frere Town Quarters, Karachi. The said property was subleased by the applicant via agreement dated January 15, 2022 in the name of Shams Uddin Shaikh (sub-lessee).

It says that the NAB inquired from the sub-registrar office (Clifton) under section 19 of NAO That the NAB inquired from the Sub-Registrar office (Clifton) under section National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 1999, via letter dated November 12, 2020, about the properties registered in the name of the applicant to which sub-registrar-11, Clifton Town, Karachi responded via letter dated November 27, 2020 and provided a list of properties.

NAB consequently upon receiving information from the sub-registrar was in the knowledge of property in question but no order under section 12 of NAO, 1999 was passed for freezing of the same. When the applicant and sub-lessee approached the office of sub-registrar- II, Clifton Town, Karachi for the transfer of the above property. The sub-registrar refused to transfer the same due to the above-mentioned reference, it says.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022