The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday dismissed bail petitions of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) MPA Javed Hanif and other suspects in a case pertaining to illegal appointments in the Karachi Port Trust (KPT). A bench of the high court rejected the bail pleas of Javid Hanif, former KPT chairman, Rauf Akhtar Farooqui, Mahmood Sharif, and Haji Muhammad. It, however, granted bail to their accomplices, including Amir Ali Brohi and Muhammad Iqbal. Hanif was earlier arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from his residence in Karachi over his alleged involvement in corrupt practices and abuse of authority for illegally appointing 940 employees in KPT in collusion with the then minister of ports and shipping Babar Ghauri, causing a loss of billions of rupees to the national exchequer. The appointments were said to be made in violation of the relevant laws, rules and regulations and without advertisement of vacancies, legal process, age criteria, medical examination of appointees. Earlier, an accountability court in Karachi had issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Babar Ghauri in the same case. Published in Daily Times, December 15th 2018.