Plea for probe into 'illegal appointments' in SA adjourned

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday put off a petition seeking a probe into alleged illegal appointments in the Sindh Assembly and embezzlement of funds earmarked for the construction of a new hostel for MPAs.

A division bench of the high court adjourned the hearing for an indefinite period for want of time.

A citizen, Afshan Muhammad, had approached the court, alleging massive corruption in the provincial assembly and embezzlement of funds allocated for the construction of a new hostel for provincial lawmakers.

She stated in her petition that the hostel’s cost was estimated at Rs2.70 billion in PC-1 but it was later enhanced to Rs11.40 billion. She added that although more than Rs6.72 billion had been released until June 30, 2017, half of the construction work was not even carried out.

The petitioner said the assembly speaker Agha Siraj Durrani was himself monitoring the project and had appointed a blued-eyed person as project director.

She alleged that other government functionaries, including the accountant general and finance department officials, were also involved in irregularities in the project.

The woman petitioner pleaded with the high court to order the NAB chairman to launch a probe into the funds so far released for the construction of the hostel and restrain the authorities concerned from releasing more funds for the purpose.