ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) Tuesday approved the interim bail of the owner of a plaza and an accused in a NAB reference related to the allotment of 684 shops in a high-rise building, “Ahad Towers,” located at Kalma Chowk, Lahore.
The court granted him time until the next hearing to sit with the affected allottees and resolve the matter amicably, and adjourned further hearing of the case until March 30.
A two-member bench headed by Justice Aamer Farooq and comprising Justice Syed Arshad Hussain Shah heard the bail application of the accused.
During the hearing, the accused’s lawyer argued that his client is ready to return the money to the victims, but they are demanding the shops instead. He submitted that 600 allottees in the project are completely satisfied, while only 84 victims have filed complaints with NAB.
At this, Justice Arshad Hussain Shah remarked that the victims had trusted the accused and invested their entire savings in his plaza; therefore, it would be better to address their concerns and resolve the matter through mutual discussion.
In response, the counsel submitted that if the court grants time, they are ready to sit with the victims and reach a settlement. He requested that his client be protected from arrest because NAB officials have already conducted raids three times to apprehend him.
Later, the court issued notices to NAB and the Punjab prosecutor general seeking their responses and adjourned the case.
It is pertinent to mention here that the accused had collected billions of rupees from 684 individuals for the allotment of shops in “Ahad Towers” in Lahore, without completing the required legal procedures. However, following the Supreme Court’s orders to demolish illegally constructed high-rise buildings across the country, four to five floors of the plaza were demolished, after which the dispute reached NAB.
In a separate case, the FCC was requested to issue directives to the federal government to ensure the withdrawal of recent hike in petrol and diesel prices. Advocate Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta filed a petition under Article 175-E(3) of the Constitution, naming the Government of Pakistan through the Establishment Division secretary as the respondent.
He prayed to the court that his petition be accepted and that directions may be issued to the respondent to ensure the withdrawal of recent hike in petrol and diesel prices. He further prayed that directions may be given to the respondent to consider the import of oil from Russia and Iran if the war continues for more than 10 days.
Bhutta submitted that the Rs55 per litre hike in petrol and diesel prices exposes a stark failure of government responsibility and economic stewardship. He contended that with reserves sufficient for weeks and shipping routes fully operational, there is no legitimate supply crisis to justify such a sudden, punitive and opportunistic increase.
“Instead, the policy exposes the government’s reckless priorities, where ordinary citizens are forced to shoulder crippling costs while functionaries indulge in lavish lifestyles, including purchasing luxury aircraft and announcing new vehicle policies allowing cars up to 4700cc,” the petitioner added.
The petitioner also quoted an article recently published in print media, written by Dr Alamdar Hussain Malik (former financial advisor), revealing that Pakistan consumes roughly 240,000 barrels of petrol per day, or 38 million liters, meaning the Rs55 increase alone generates about Rs.2.1 billion daily, or Rs.63 billion per month from petrol. When diesel is included, the combined monthly revenue extraction may exceed Rs120 billion, a massive sum directly taken from the pockets of ordinary citizens.
The petitioner submitted that the price hike decision is nothing but exploitation of citizens, which is against Article 3 (which prevents exploitation), Article 9 (which relates to security of person), Article 9-A (which relates to health), etc.
Meanwhile, the FCC sought the investigation report and details regarding the progress of a triple murder case during its hearing. A two-member bench headed by Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi heard the case. During the proceedings, the counsel for the accused argued that the court had not accepted a new report submitted by DSP Sirajuddin Lashari. According to him, the report had declared some of the accused innocent.
At this, Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi remarked that in Sindh the investigation of every such case was assigned to Sirajuddin Lashari. He further observed that all the 13 accused had been nominated in the FIR and the court could not provide protection to those accused of killing three people. The judge also remarked that some of the accused in the case were absconders.
Counsel Gabriel Francis informed the court that his three clients were currently in jail. Justice Rizvi then asked how far the trial had progressed and whether the court had framed charges against the accused.
The counsel requested time from the court, stating that if granted time he would submit the charge sheet, challan and other relevant documents.
The court directed the counsel to produce the relevant judicial record at the next hearing and adjourned further proceedings of the case.
