Daily Times

Former Sindh chief minister (CM) Qaim Ali Shah on Saturday moved a petition in the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Saturday and requested a pre-arrest bail.

The petition was filed against the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for issuing him a call-up notice in connection with a probe into illegal allotment of land in the Malir riverbed. The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader pleaded with the high court to grant him bail before arrest and restrain the anti-graft watchdog from arresting him.

Qaim Ali Shah contended in the petition that NAB sent him a call-up notice on December 18 in connection with a probe into the allotment of land in the Malir riverbed. Refuting allegations of any wrongdoing, he said that he had cancelled the allotment of the land. Terming the call-up notice ‘political vendetta,’ the former chief minister said, “NAB has been subjecting the PPP to political vengeance.” He requested the court to declare the notice illegal and stop the Bureau from arresting him.

The Karachi chapter of NAB had launched four investigations against Sindh government officers and others for illegally allotting 307 acres of land in the Malir riverbed to various beneficiaries. According to a statement, 307 acres in the Malir riverbed were illegally allotted to various beneficiaries in violation of law and rules by way of fresh allotment and exchange after squeezing the boundaries of Malir River. Misuse of authority allegedly by officials of the provincial government along with various beneficiaries and front men caused Rs15.7 loss to the national exchequer. The court is expected to take up the former Sindh chief minister’s petition on Monday.

Published in Daily Times, December 23^rd 2018.