ISLAMABAD: The accountability court of Islamabad on Friday summoned Bahria Town Chairman Malik Riaz, his son-in-law Zain Malik and other accused persons in a corruption reference related to Bahria Icon Tower, Karachi.

The others summoned for Feb 13 included former senator Yousaf Baloch, Dr Dinshaw Anklesaria, Liaquat Qaimkhani, Waqas Raffat, Ghulam Arif, Khawaja Shafique, Abdul Subhan Memon, Jamil Baloch, Afzal Aziz, Syed Mohammad Shah, Khurran Arif, Abdul Karim Paleejo and Khawaja Badeeuz Zaman.

Accountability judge Mohammad Bashir will commence formal proceeding in the reference on Feb 13.

The Bahria Icon Tower reference is an offshoot of the fake accounts case. It is the first reference in which Malik Riaz has been nominated as an accused person.

As per the reference, the accused persons caused over Rs100 billion loss to the national exchequer through illegal allotment of an amenity plot related to Bagh Ibne Qasim where Bahria Town constructed the tower.

Accused persons caused Rs100bn loss to national exchequer by illegally constructing skyscraper on an amenity plot in Karachi, according to NAB reference

The skyscraper is located on the coast of Arabian Sea in Karachi. It includes 62-storey and 40-storey mixed-used buildings.

National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed the reference before the registrar accountability court. After scrutiny the registrar office placed the reference before the administrative judge, Mohammad Bashir.

As per a routine practice, during the initial proceeding the court hands over copies of a reference to all accused persons. In the next stage, the accused persons are indicted and formal trial begins.

A senior lawyer from the legal team of Bahria Town said the reference was not a big problem for Malik Riaz. He said the property tycoon may file an acquittal plea since evidence against him were weak.

He said the recently promulgated presidential ordinance on the amendment to National Accountability Ordinance may also benefit him.

According to the lawyer, Malik Riaz may get acquittal under a plea bargain.

An accused can get himself acquitted after paying an agreed amount to NAB under the plea bargain. However, under this deal, he cannot hold public office since the plea bargain does not waive the conviction.

The lawyer said since the real estate tycoon had no plan to contest elections or hold any public office, going for a plea bargain would not cause any loss to his business plans.

Last year, Sajjad Abbasi, who worked as the secretary works and services and was arrested in June 2019 for his alleged involvement in the Icon Tower case, turned an approver.

In a statement to the court, he said he sold the amenity plot to Dr Dinshaw Anklesaria when he was working as the executive district officer revenue department.

He claimed that Dr Anklesaria then sold the plot to Malik Riaz who constructed the high-rise building on it.During the hearing of a post-arrest bail of PPP leader Faryal Talpur in the fake accounts case, Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court (IHC) Athar Minallah asked the investigation officer of NAB about those who were involved in the Rs750 million transactions through fake accounts but were never arrested or put to trial.

The investigation officer replied that the Bahria Town chairman was on the top of the list and NAB was trying to locate his whereabouts.

Justice Minallah expressed displeasure over the lethargy of NAB and observed: “This is how NAB exercises power to arrest people. NAB does not have unfettered power of arrest.”

Subsequently, the court had granted bail to Ms Talpur.

Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2020