Latest news with #AccountabilityCourt


Business Recorder
a day ago
- Politics
- Business Recorder
Victims of Bin-Alam Housing scam demand swift justice
LAHORE: Dozens of victims of the Bin-Alam Housing Society scam staged a protest outside the Accountability Court in Lahore on Sunday, demanding urgent justice and compensation after years of legal delays and financial ruin. Chanting slogans and holding placards, the protestors, many of whom are retired individuals, widows, and low-income citizens, urged the Chief Justice of Pakistan, the Chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the Chief Minister of Punjab, and senior judiciary members to intervene in the long-pending case. The protest comes years after more than 500 individuals were allegedly defrauded by the private housing project, which began bookings in 2016-17 in Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Islamabad. Victims say they were promised plots on easy instalments but were neither given possession nor refunded their investments, which collectively amount to around Rs1.4 billion. Following a flood of complaints, the NAB Lahore launched an investigation and arrested four suspects, Kashif, Nazim Alam, Muhammad Azam, and Muhammad Asif. One of the accused remains at large and has been declared an absconder, while another is still on judicial remand. The NAB also seized properties linked to the suspects and filed a reference in the Lahore Accountability Court in 2019, which includes over 400 victims. Despite the passage of five years, only about 100 witnesses have so far recorded their statements, leaving the proceedings stalled and justice elusive. A separate reference involving 126 victims from Rawalpindi and Islamabad was transferred to the Islamabad Accountability Court, but that case also remains pending with little progress. The demonstrators expressed deep frustration over the slow pace of the trial, saying their financial and emotional suffering continues unabated. 'We've waited for years with no resolution in sight. Many of us spent our life savings. We just want our money back or the plots we were promised,' said one protestor. Calling on authorities to expedite the legal process, the victims urged the judiciary and NAB to ensure early verdicts, recover looted funds, and provide long-overdue relief. The Bin-Alam scam remains one of several high-profile housing fraud cases that have tested public trust in accountability mechanisms, with victims now pleading for closure and justice. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025


Express Tribune
25-06-2025
- Express Tribune
Warrants revoked in housing case
An accountability court has granted physical remand of the three men till January 29. PHOTO: An Accountability Court (AC) on Wednesday canceled the non-bailable arrest warrants issued for the Deputy Commissioners (DCs) of Islamabad and Haripur in the Bankers City housing scheme case, while upholding the warrant against the Rawalpindi DC. In a separate embezzlement case, a civil judge rejected a request to extend the physical remand of the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the District Education Authority (DEA) and a co-accused cashier. Both were ordered to be sent to Adiala Jail on judicial remand. Meanwhile, Civil Judge Waqar Ahmed Sidhu rejected the Anti-Corruption Establishment's (ACE) request for a three-day extension of the physical remand of former DEA CEO Amanullah Cheema and cashier Arshad Mahmood, who are accused in a corruption case involving Rs. 8 million. The court instead remanded them to Adiala Jail and ordered their production again on July 3. The investigating officer was directed to submit the charge sheet by the next hearing date. The accused were presented before the court following the conclusion of a two-day physical remand.


Business Recorder
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Recorder
Karkey RPP case: Ex-PM Raja only accused of abetting main suspect, rules AC
ISLAMABAD: An Accountability Court ruled that former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and others were only accused of abetment of the principal accused in the Karkey Rental Power Project (RPP) case, against whom the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had already withdrawn charges. The Accountability Court judge, Muhammad Ali Warraich, in its detail judgement of the Karkey case, says that former prime minister Ashraf and 11 others discharged from Karkey Power Project (RPP) case as they (Ashraf and others) abetting the principal accused, against whom the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had already withdrawn charges as they (Ashraf and others) entitled to be discharged from the case. According to the judgment, the Supreme Court had declared the contracts with Rental Power Plants illegal in its decision dated March 30, 2012. The apex court had also ordered recovery of losses, along with markup, from those responsible. Following the Supreme Court's directives, the NAB initiated inquiries against several rental power companies, including Karkey, which was converted into a formal investigation on December 18, 2022. The initial inquiry led to a reference being filed against 31 accused. Later, a supplementary reference was filed against 12 individuals for awarding an illegal contract to Karkey. The NAB filed the case under the amended NAB Ordinance 1999, accusing the suspects of causing losses to the national exchequer and accepting kickbacks. However, before the trial could conclude, amendments were introduced to the NAB laws, leading to the case being returned to NAB on the grounds of lacking jurisdiction. On September 5, 2023, the Supreme Court partially struck down the NAB amendments, which led to the revival of the reference in the accountability court. Subsequently, an intra-court appeal restored the NAB Amendment Act 2022 in its original form, and the case resumed from where it had been left. It says that perusal of record shows that initially the original reference was filed against 31 accused persons, the record further shows that NAB had withdrawn the case to the extent of accused No 1 to 11 arrayed in original reference on March 6, 2020, whereas, accused persons namely, Rabia Laique, Bushra Zulqarnain, Umer Zulqarnain, Sher Malik and Amir Malik have been discharged according to verdict March 18, 2020. The verdict says that examination of the record shows that the case of remaining accused persons who have been appearing before the court is squarely at par with the accused No 1 to 11 of the original reference against whom the NAB had withdrawn the case and the accused persons who have been discharged vide order dated March 2020. The allegation levelled against the remaining accused persons who have been appearing before the court is mostly the abetment of the principal accused against whom NAB had withdrawn the case. Thus, remaining accused persons are entitled to be discharged from the offence, it says. The accused persons, namely, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Muhammad Ismail Qureshi, Fazal Ahmed Khan, NA Zuberi. Tahir Basharat Cheema, Muhammad Saleem Arif, Muhammad Razi Abbas, Iqbal Ali Shah, Wazir Ali Bhaio, Hafeez ur Rehman Abbasi and Rasool Khan Mehmood are discharged from this case. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025