HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad circuit bench of the Sindh High Court on Wednesday stayed proceedings of a reference filed by National Accountability Bureau in Hyderabad accountability court, involving misappropriation of Rs24 million by 19 persons including contractors and employees of the defunct taluka municipal administration (TMA), Matli.

A division bench comprising Justices Salahuddin Panhwar and Mohammad Iqbal Maher passed the order on a joint petition filed by TMA employee Tariq Hameed Memon and 18 others after NAB’s special prosecutor sought time to submit a reply to the petitioner’s counsel.

The petitioners who had cited chairman and director general of NAB and accountability court as respondents said that DG of NAB signed their reference for submission to the accountability court without considering jurisdiction under his own standard operating procedure.

The NAB received a complaint on Oct 15, 2012, which alleged that TMA Matli’s funds were misappropriated between 2007-12 by taluka municipal officers (TMOs), including Tariq Hameed Memon, Munawar Zareef and Ahmed Khan Abro, said the petitioners.

They said that a subsequent inquiry found that the record relating to the period of Memon was available which revealed misappropriation of funds through bogus vouchers for earth filling work, purchase of trolleys, hand pumps, drainage work and expenditure on petrol.

But, they said, no record about the period of Munawar Zareef and Ahmed Khan Abro was found during the inquiry, which disclosed that liabilities of two separate amounts of Rs2.6 million and Rs0.343 million were established against Arbab Hussain and Nazir Ahmed Nizamani, respectively.

They said that both the accused opted for voluntary return process and returned the misappropriated amounts. A liability of Rs0.96 million was established against Naveed Shahid, proprietor of a construction company who filed application for plea bargain which was approved by administrative judge of Accountability Courts, Karachi. They infor­m­ed the court that all the petitioners sought interim pre arrest bail from the SHC but in the meantime NAB filed a reference (7/2016) in the accountability court of Hyderabad.

The petitioners’ counsel Ishrat Lohar argued that the petitioners’ trial would not serve any purpose and would prove to be a wastage of the court’s time. He said that trial or proceedings by a court which lacked jurisdiction would jeopardize fundamental rights of petitioners as the respondents had failed to transfer the case to court of Special Judge of Anti-Corruption (provincial).

He termed the investigation and the reference as illegal and false and in violation of fundamental rights of the petitioners. The embezzlement of minimum amount that fell within NAB’s jurisdiction was more than Rs100 million while the case against the petitioners involved amount of less than Rs100 million.

He, therefore, asked the court to stay proceedings of the reference till the final disposal of this petition.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2016