Kidney Hills corruption case: NAB submits reply regarding acquittal application

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Friday submitted its reply regarding the acquittal application filed by the accused in Kidney Hills corruption case against Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Saleem Mandviwalla and others.

Accused Abdul Ghani Majeed had filed an acquittal application before the court under the National Accountability (second and third amendment) Ordinance 2021. Accountability Court-I judge Muhammad Bashir, while hearing the corruption reference regarding illegal allotment of plots of Overseas Cooperative Housing Society Limited (OCHSL) (Kidney Hill) against Mandviwalla and others, granted time to the defence counsel for its submitting his arguments over the acquittal application of his client.

At the start of the hearing, NAB prosecutor Sohail Arif submitted comments on acquittal application of accused Abdul Ghani Majeed. The defence counsel requested the court to grant him time to argue over the acquittal of his client, which the court approved and adjourned hearing of the case till April 18.

Mandviwalla and other accused had already challenged Kidney Hills corruption reference under the National Accountability (third amendment) Ordinance 2021. In his application, Mandviwalla adopted the stance that after the promulgation of the NAB third amendment ordinance, the case does not fall under the purview of the NAB; therefore, he be acquitted.

The anti-graft body had filed the reference against Mandviwalla and others on January 13 before the Accountability Court.

The Reference was approved by the NAB’s executive board meeting (EBM) on December 29, last year which was presided over by Chairman NAB justice Javed Iqbal (retd).

The other accused include, Nadeem Hakeem Mandviwala, Muhammad Ajaz Haroon, former secretary Overseas Cooperative Housing Society Karachi, and former chairman Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Abdul Qadir Shiwani private person, Triq Mehmood private person, Abdul Qayyum private person, and Khawaja Abdul Ghani Majeed.

According to the NAB, the accused on their involvement in illegal allotment of plots in the OCHSL Karachi and payment of those plots through fake bank accounts, incurred huge losses to the national exchequer.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022