Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad and Rawalpindi Bar Associations have appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take action against Bahria Town owner, Malik Riaz and his son Ali Riaz, for reasons that involve the illegal occupation of land of senior member of the Bar, Raja Yasir Ali Abbasi Advocate.

Police have finally registered an FIR in a ‘land-grabbing case’ following the direction of Justice of peace/additional session judge (East), Islamabad, more than a week after to this effect.

Both the Bar Associations have announced that if Islamabad police and administration failed to take action against the ‘unannounced dons’ of Islamabad and Rawalpindi they will be compelled to stage a protest and take extreme measures.

Appellant Raja Yasir Ali Abbasi is the owner of a land illegally occupied by Malik Riaz and his land grabber team. The area of the land totals almost 18 kanal which is costly enough.

Initially, police officials hesitated while registering an FIR against the influential Riaz and his team, manipulating the entire scenario and not paying any significant attention to the matter at hand, however later onwards they were compelled to register the FIR against the accused persons.

Additional district and sessions judge (ADSJ) Sikandar Khan had ordered local police on Sept 21 to book the accused following the complaint of a widow and other locals residing in Phulgran, located in the suburbs of the federal capital.

The FIR was registered by Bhara Kahu police on Sept 29 under sections 109, 341, 379, 427 and 447 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC),  dealing with theft, wrongful restraint, mischief and criminal trespass.

Advocate Yasir Ali, one of the complainants, stated that he had inherited just over eight kanals of land worth approximately RS80-90 million in the Phulgran revenue estate, which was illegally occupied by Bahria Town guards.

He said that when he visited his family land on July 26, he approached the Bahria Town office located on Murree Expressway, near Satra Meel.

“I showed them the ownership documents, but they said the matter was not in their hands,” he said. He further added that when he initially approached Bhara Kahu police to lodge a complaint, the station house officer and other officials refused to entertain his presence.

He stated that he had requested the district courts and filed a petition seeking the registration of a case.

The complainant told the court that Malik Riaz had illegally grabbed his inherited property and forcefully included it in his housing scheme.

Mustafa Tanveer, counsel for Malik Riaz, informed the court that the issue regarding the possession of the land in question was pending before a civil court.

He claimed that the complainants had filed the petition for the registration of an FIR against Malik Riaz and his son in a bid to blackmail them, and maintained that since the matter was pending before a civil court, criminal proceedings could not be launched.

In the order, however, the ADSJ mentioned that pendency of a civil suit is not a bar against criminal proceedings, as both can proceed simultaneously.

But in his order, the judge noted that it was not certain to arrest an accused as soon as the FIR was registered, and directed that police should only take the accused into custody when a cognizable offence was proven during the course of the investigation.

“It is to be clearly defined here that when an FIR has registered it is not certain that in all cases the accused should be arrested. The accused may be arrested only in those cases where sufficient evidence exists on record against the those involved,” the order read.

However during the investigation, if the information provided by the petitioner is proved to be false it is said that “The local police may initiate strict proceedings under Section 182 (invoked against false accusers) of Pakistan Penal Code against the witness for providing false information”, the order stated further.

When the Bahria Town spokesperson retired Col Mohammad Khalil was contacted he told sources that the housing society had lawfully purchased the land in dispute.

He did acknowledge that there was a trivial conflict between the housing society and local residents, accepting that the case was pending before the civil court in Islamabad.

However, he alleged that locals had filed an appeal seeking the registration of an FIR against Bahria Town authorities and owners with mala fide intent, in an attempt to pressurize the housing society into giving a bigger and better share of the multi-million dollar housing scheme.

Presently there are several cases of land grabbing pending directly or indirectly against Bahria Town and are underway in trial and apex courts, but Riaz uses his power to hire and influence prominent lawyers in influencing the decisions of cases against him in trial courts.

Cases of murder, land grabbing and other heinous crimes do not escape the ill-fated reputation of Riaz who also influences appointments of Patwaris and other revenue officials to use them for his interests such as the illegal transferring of land and depriving ordinary persons of their properties in the twin cities.

Police and district administration have also allegedly since the beginning of time danced to Riaz’s tunes.