KARACHI: The Special Anti-Corruption (Provincial) Court has rejected the post-arrest bail applications of former Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) DG Manzoor Qadir Kaka and former Jamshed Town mukhtiarkar Khair Muhammad Dahiri in the Nasla Tower case.
The former SBCA chiefs Kaka and Ashkar Dawar, along with Dahiri and several others, have been implicated by the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) on charges of fraud, criminal breach of trust, forgery, and corruption related to the Nasla Tower case.
Previously, on July 31, the court revoked the interim pre-arrest bail of Kaka and Dahiri, leading to their subsequent arrest and placement in judicial remand.
Following this, they sought post-arrest bail, but Judge Muhammad Ahsan Khan Durrani dismissed their applications after hearing arguments from both the defense and prosecution.
Kaka’s lawyer, Farooq H Naek, contended that his client had no involvement in the additional land allotment for Nasla Tower.
He stated that the allotment had been executed by the now-defunct Karachi Development Authority and the Sindhi Muslim Cooperative Housing Society (SMCHS).
Naek added that Kaka had been on ex-Pakistan leave from 2015 to 2019 and was unaware of the present case against him.
State prosecutor Sharfuddin Kanhar, however, countered that the SBCA chief had approved the property transfer NOC and building plan based on a fraudulent NOC issued by the KMC.
Additionally, the ex-mukhtiarkar was accused of making an unlawful entry into the extended plot area.
Kanhar also emphasized that there existed ample documentary evidence corroborating the charges against both suspects.
In March, the court had indicted a total of 17 individuals, including former and serving SBCA officials, on charges including fraud, forgery, and corruption.
The accused were alleged to have allowed encroachments on a thoroughfare to facilitate the construction of Nasla Tower.
It is relevant to note that the 15-storey building, intended for both commercial and residential purposes, was eventually demolished following the Supreme Court’s orders, as it had been constructed in violation of laws.
The case was registered under sections 420, 409, 468, 471, and 334 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), along with Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, on behalf of the state through ACE Inspector Zahid Hussain Mirani.
Source: The News
