Daily Times

It took decades for property tycoon Malik Riaz to construct a statue so large that it consumed everything else in the national psyche. Between politicking, making and breaking deals and relishing in the self-anointed image of Robin Hood, Mr Riaz made up for a lack of charisma with platitudes and convenient-placed religious “touch.” The too-good-to-be-true riches, however, appear to be headed towards a freefall.

With an order issued by the accountability court in Islamabad for the confiscation of all properties and assets in Pakistan on top of declaring him a proclaimed offender, there’s no telling what would become of the largest and most prominent property conglomerate in the country. Although he has been down this road numerous times before, the legal troubles have never directly impacted the value of the most prestigious brainchild, Bahria Town. On one hand, bureaucratic hullaballoo is actively obstructing key projects in Peshawar and Karachi but just as worrisome is the dramatic downturn in the prices of plots in new phases.

That a court order dared to not mince words in laying out details of his properties, offices and even luxury vehicles set to be impounded in a country where not too long ago, even a press release by the accountability watchdog referred to him as a “property tycoon,” puts flesh on the bones of the growing wrath of the state.

Similarly, the local media is fixated on the notion of former prime minister Imran Khan’s part in the Al Qadir saga. The lack of attention given to the Rs 460 billion that Bahria Town needs to pay to the Supreme Court speaks volumes about our readiness to turn the heat on the political elite but keeping a tight lip when it comes to holding the feet of movers-and-shakers to fire. Of course, this does not mean that a grave travesty of justice in the case of the multibillion-rupee Al-Qadir Trust corruption case can be ignored. Justice would only be served if all who enjoyed sweeteners out of the dirty money deal were fairly and justly tried. *