KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has dismissed multiple petitions filed by beneficiaries of one of Karachi’s largest land scandals, declaring their allotments void ab initio and upholding cancellations initiated by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
According to the details issued by the NAB, the ruling closes a legal chapter on a fraud dating back to the early 1990s, when approximately 800 acres of state-owned urban land valued today at trillions of rupees, were illegally transferred into private hands through fabricated “evacuee” claims, forged documents, and the alleged complicity of corrupt government officials.
Among the grabbed parcels were plots housing critical water supply infrastructure serving Karachi’s residents, as well as land formally designated for public parks.
The land was subsequently sold off at substantial profit, with buyers spanning multiple layers of transactions.
NAB took up the case and coordinated directly with the Sindh Board of Revenue to have fraudulent land records cancelled and the properties restored to the state.
The illegal beneficiaries responded by filing petitions before the Sindh High Court, arguing they had been denied due process and qualified as bona fide purchasers unaware of the fraud.
The Court rejected both claims outright. In its ruling, the bench held that no legal protection can be extended to transactions built on a fraudulent foundation, and directed aggrieved buyers to seek remedy against the sellers who transferred stolen land, not against the State.
The Court further affirmed that NAB’s intervention was lawful rather than an overreach of authority.
“These are the city’s water lines and public parks, they belong to the people,” a NAB spokesman said following the verdict.
“Every inch of state land taken by fraud will be traced and returned. The days of grabbing are over.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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