China-cutting: Bail plea of former Lines Area project director rejected

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday rejected bail pleas of the Lines Area Redevelopment Project’s former project director Fareed Ahmed Yousufani and another official Tahir Jameel Durrani in a case pertaining to the corruption of Rs5 billion.

A division bench of the high court directed the relevant accountability court to wind up the trial proceedings into the reference within a period of one month.

The bureau had arrested Yousufani and Durrani over their alleged involvement in the illegal bifurcation and allotment of lucrative plots in Lines Area Redevelopment Project through China-cutting by overlooking the mandatory auction process.

They had allegedly allotted the plots at throwaway prices after taking kickbacks and commissions.

According to the bureau, the national exchequer suffered a loss of over Rs5 billion due to the illegal activities.

Earlier, on Jan 25, the Supreme Court had rejected a bail petition of Karachi Development Authority (KDA) deputy director Atif Hussain in a China-cutting case.

“They don’t deserve any concession after what they did to Karachi,” observed Justice Gulzar Ahmed, who headed an apex court bench which was seized with the hearing of the petition.

The bench directed the accountability court concerned to wrap up within three months the reference related to china-cutting – a term used to describe illegal slicing of parks and lands earmarked for recreational activities in the city.

National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor informed the judge that KDA officials sold out amenity plots in Gulistan-e-Jauhar’s 36 Scheme.