KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) ordered on Wednesday the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to complete the inquiry against Karachi’s former nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal and other accused into alleged illegal allotment of 5,000 square yards of land in Clifton.
Headed by SHC Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M Sheikh, a two-judge bench also directed the NAB investigation officer (IO) to submit the inquiry report by November 14.
The national anti-graft watchdog informed the court that the 5,000 square yard land had been leased to hawkers and shopkeepers in 1980. However, in 2005, the entire land was illegally leased to the DJ Builders.
NAB had initiated investigations into the alleged illegal allotment of the land on plot 12/7, which was known as sea-shell stalls. The land’s value was estimated to be Rs10 billion, which is situated near Abdullah Shah Ghazi’s shrine – between Bagh Ibne Qasim and Seaview – in Block 3 of Clifton.
The court was also informed that Kamal, who was the city nazim at that time, had given approval for constructing a multi-storey building on the subject land in an illegal manner.
Kamal, at that time, was a leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement. However, later, he launched his own party, the Pak Sarzameen Party, after parting ways with his former party’s head Altaf Hussain.
The SHC CJ asked the IO whether the former city nazim was interrogated in this case, to which the IO replied that Kamal had been nominated as an accused in the case and NAB had also recorded his statement. The bench directed the IO to complete the investigation by November 14 and inform the court in this regard in the next hearing.
