RAWALPINDI, July 23: An anti-corruption court re-issued on Monday non-bailable arrest warrants for property tycoon Malik Riaz, his son Ali Riaz and seven other accused in a land fraud case.
On July 17, the court had ordered the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) to arrest of the accused, but on July 19 the Sindh High Court (SHC) granted protective bail to Malik Riaz for a month and asked him to surrender before the trial court.
When anti-corruption judge Chaudhry Ameer Mohammad Khan resumed hearing of the case, Public Prosecutor Khawaja Sohail, representing the ACE, pointed out that none of the tycoon’s counsel were present.
After re-issuing the warrants, the judge took up the matter of harassment of Punjab ACE staff by Islamabad police when they tried to arrest Malik Riaz in the federal capital.
The court had earlier issued a show-cause notice to Malik Mohammad Yousaf, the then SSP of Islamabad.
The SSP requested time for filing his detailed reply and the hearing of the matter was adjourned till July 30.
Talking to Dawn, the prosecutor said there was no one in the court to tell the judge that the SHC had granted protective bail to the accused.
He said Malik Riaz could appear before the court till the expiry of his bail, otherwise his surety of Rs1 million would also be forfeited.
The case pertains to acquisition of 1,401 kanals of land near Rawat in 2009 on basis of fake documents.
