KARACHI: An accountability court on Wednesday reserved its verdict on an acquittal application moved by a builder in a case pertaining to alleged illegal amalgamation of prime commercial land and its transfer to Bahria Town for a high-rise building.

Former Karachi mayor and Pak Sarzameen Party chairman Syed Mustafa Kamal, former executive district officer Iftikhar Kaimkhani and five others are facing trial in the case.

On Wednesday, accountability court-III judge Sher Bano Karim took up an acquittal application moved by the defence counsel for an alleged absconding suspect, Zain Malik, son-in-law of real estate tycoon Malik Riaz.

Advocate Amir Raza Naqvi had moved the application under Section 4-B of the National Accountability (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019 read with Section 365-K of the Criminal Procedure Code, submitting that his client was under treatment abroad and unable to appear before the court.

In the plea, the counsel submitted that no case was made out against his client in view of Section 4-B of the amended ordinance of the accountability law since Zain Malik had purchased the land in question from M/s DJ Builders and Developers and then sold it back to them.

He further submitted that the transaction was between two private parties and since no government official was involved in it, the provisions of the NAO 1999 under which the reference was filed were not attracted in the present case to the extent of his client.

Therefore, the court was asked to acquit Zain Malik in the present reference.

On the other hand, NAB special public prosecutor Shahbaz Sahotra contended that the acquittal plea of the suspect was not maintainable as the reference was filed under Section 18-G of the NAO, 1999 and the court had taken cognizance of the offences alleged on the suspects in terms of Section 18-A.

He added that in terms of Article 264 of the Constit­ution as well as Section 6 of the General Clauses Act, 1897, the NAO 1999 had a retrospective effect, adding that the superior courts in their judgements had upheld that the cases could be tried in which the law had retrospective effect. Therefore, he pleaded to the court to dismiss the acquittal application as being not maintainable.

After hearing arguments from both sides, the judge reserved her order to be announced on March 25.

Earlier, Mr Kamal and others appeared before the court on bail.

In June last year, the administrative judge had admitted the reference against Mr Kamal, then district coordination officer of Karachi Fazlur Rehman, Mr Kaimkhani, district officer Mumtaz Haider, then additional DO Syed Nishat Ali and then sub-registrar-II, Clifton, Nazir Zardari.

Five builders — Mr Malik, Mr Dawood, Mr Yaqoob, Mohammad Irfan and Mohammad Rafiq — all associated with DJ Builders and Developers have also been nominated in the reference.

According to the reference, Mr Malik and others associated with DJ Builders in connivance with Mr Kamal, ex-DCO Rehman and others unlawfully got amalgamated the plots and 102 stalls and subsequently got them transferred in favour of Bahria Town Private Limited through a conveyance deed without obtaining permission from the Karachi Development Authority.

Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2020