KARACHI: Sindh High Court (SHC) Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M Sheikh was requested on Monday to pass an order on the former provincial land secretary’s plea challenging powers of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to initiate inquiries or investigations into matters relating to the departments of the provincial government.
A three-judge larger bench, headed by Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto, made this request while referring a petition against alleged interference of the national anti-graft watchdog in provincial government departments to the SHC CJ. The bench, also comprising justices Muhammad Karim Khan Agha and Omar Sial, adjourned hearing on the matter till January 10, 2018.
The matter was taken to court by the former provincial land secretary, Ghulam Mustafa Phul, who is facing an inquiry by NAB into alleged illegal land allotment.
According to NAB investigators, four inquiries were pending against the petitioner and others for allegedly illegally allotting 265 acres of land and 276 plots in Malir district.
Previously, the NAB prosecutor had informed the court that losses worth billions of rupees were caused to the national exchequer through such illegal allotments of state land. The prosecutor had sought more time to complete the investigation and submit progress report in the court.
