By Ali Imran
ISLAMABAD: An accountability court in Islamabad on Wednesday has decided to indict former Senate deputy chairman Saleem Mandviwalla and others in Kidney Hills reference on May 24.
The accountability court’s judge Muhammad Bashir resumed the heard the reference. The PPP leader Saleem Mandviwalla did not appear before the court, while former PIA managing director Aijaz Haroon appeared before the court.
The court, while rejecting the pleas of Mandviwalla, Aijaz Haroon, and Abdul Ghani’s acquittal from the reference, fixed May 24 for the indictment.
The accused have been directed to ensure their presence before the court on the date of the indictment.
A co-accused Nadeem Hakim submitted his plea through the counsel to the accountability court to seek exemption from personal appearance in the hearing.
Illegal land allotments
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed a reference against ex-Senate Deputy Chairman Saleem Mandviwalla in an illegal land allotments case on January 13.
The anti-graft watchdog in its reference stated the accused sold government plots to Abdul Ghani Majeed – son of Omni Group chief Anwar Majeed. According to NAB, Mandviwalla had purchased fake shares in the name of his frontman by selling the plots.
The national graft buster had also submitted a report to the court which stated that former PIA managing director Aijaz Haroon had also played a key role in selling illegal plots to Abdul Ghani Majeed. The NAB had nominated Saleem Mandviwalla, Aijaz Haroon, Abdul Ghani Majeed and Tariq Mehmood as offenders in the reference.
