Lok Virsa corruption reference: AC adjourns hearing due to absence of defence counsel

ISLAMABAD: The Accountability Court hearing Lok Virsa corruption reference against Pakistan People Party (PPP) leader Robina Khalid and others on Monday adjourned the hearing of the case due to the absence of the defence counsel.

The Accountability Court-I judge, Muhammad Bashir, while hearing the corruption case against PPP Senator Rubina Khalid and others adjourned the hearing of the case till August 19 due to the non-availability of the defence counsel, Shaikh Khizarur Rasheed, counsel for Robina Khalid, and Barrister Qasim Nawaz Abbasi, counsel for Nazarul Islam. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor during the previous hearing submitted its reply on acquittal applications filed by the accused under 265-K.

The NAB prosecutor, Sohail Arif, and prosecution witness also appeared before the court.

The anti-graft body on July 1, 2019, had filed a corruption reference against Rubina Khalid, who is also the former chief executive director of M/s Cosmos Production (Pvt) Ltd.

The accused also included former executive director Lok Virsa Mazharul Islam and incumbent Chief Executive Director of M/s Cosmos Production (Pvt) Ltd in Self-Generated Fund (SGF) of Lok Virsa, Dr Tabinda Zafar.

The bureau had adopted the stance that the accused committed embezzlement in the Lok Virsa fund and incurred losses of Rs30.13 million to the national exchequer.

The NAB had initiated an investigation against the accused in November 2018.

According to the bureau, the evidence collected during the investigation established that the accused committed the “offence of corruption and corrupt practices as defined under Section 9 (a), (VI) and (XII) punishable u/s 10 of [National Accountability Ordinance (NAO)] 1999.” During the investigation, it was established that Mazhar-ul-Islam misused his authority and illegally extended the contracts in favour of Cosmos Production (Pvt) Ltd in connivance with PPP senator and Dr Zafar.

According to the NAB, accused Mazhar and Zafer gained illegal benefits by getting the extension of an agreement without calling the fresh tenders/any competition and also failed to deposit the 50 percent profit earned by them; which resulted in the loss to the national exchequer amounting to Rs30.13 million.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022