Thatta Water Supply case: Prosecution witness denies preparing, signing documents

ISLAMABAD: A prosecution witness in Thatta Water Supply case against former president Asif Ali Zaradari and others, on Friday, told the Accountability Court that the documents he produced before it were neither prepared nor sign by him.

The Accountability Court judge-II, Muhammad Azam Khan, while hearing the case against Zardari, Ejaz Ahmad Khan and others regarding award of illegal contract of Thatta water supply to Harish & Company recorded the statement of prosecution witness, Qamarud Din.

Irfan Bhola prosecutor National Accountability Bureau (NAB), defence counsel Arshad Tabraz counsel for the accused, Abdul Ghani Majeed, and the associate of Farooq H Naek, counsel for Zardari appeared before the court.

Tabraz, during the cross-examination, asked the witness that where you had produced the documents before the investigation officer (IO). The witness replied that he produced the relevant documents before the IO in the NAB Islamabad office. The witness said that law officer also accompanied him when he appeared before the IO.

When he was further asked by Tabraz that how many times he appeared before the IO, the witness said that he appeared once before the IO. To another question, witness said that the requisition from the NAB was on his name but he did not produce the same before the court. The transfer orders produced by him before the court were not produced by him, he said, adding that the person who had prepared these transfer orders did not appear before the IO.

It is correct that in the said transfer orders all legal formalities were complied with and all the said transfer exists legally.

The court adjourned hearing of the case till November 3rd, after defence counsel Tabraz’s cross-examination of the witness.

The anti-graft body nominated Zardari and 13 other suspects in the supplementary filled in connection with Thatta water supply scam.

The bureau had not nominated Zardari and Ashfaq Leghari and In-charge Naudero House Nadeem Bhutto in the interim reference.

In the interim reference, the bureau nominated 13 accused including Ejaz Ahmed Khan, former secretary of Special Initiative Department of Sindh; Hassan Memon, project director/chairman of the procurement committee for the water supply scheme, Thatta; members of the committee namely, Ali Akbar Abro, Aijaz Ahmed Memon, Athar Nawaz Durrani, Abdul Haleem Memon, Mohammad Farrukh Khan, Mohammad Ramzan, Mohammad Siddiq Sulemani and Zeeshan Hasan Yousaf, a private contractor, Harish, CEO Omni Group Khawaja Abdul Ghani Majeed, and Minahal Majeed.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021