The Islamabad High Court is expected to hear a case on Thursday (today) regarding the “offloading” of three Bahria Town officials from a Saudi Arabia-bound flight, Dawn reported.
The court has posed a question to the government regarding the reasons behind such an incident, which involves three separate petitions filed by retired brigadiers Tahir Butt and Zafar Iqbal Shah, as well as Manzoor Hussain Mughal, who holds the key position of chief surveyor for Bahria Town’s real estate projects.
Butt is the head of ‘Land Security’ for the real estate company while Shah also oversees land-related matters for the controversial property developer, Malik Riaz. The case is expected to be heard by separate benches of the high court.
The development comes after Riaz, the property tycoon, made a social media post claiming that he was under pressure to take a political side. This was followed by a raid on Bahria Town’s Rawalpindi offices which was carried out by the National Accountability Bureau and local law enforcement.
The IHC’s decision to take up the plea of the offloaded Bahria Town officials is expected to shed light on the circumstances surrounding the incident and its potential implications.
Observers suggest that the recent developments were happening against the backdrop of the £190 million corruption reference against former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi.
It is reported that Riaz and his family members have also been declared proclaimed offenders by the court for not appearing before it in the case.
In one of the cases, Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb disposed of the petition by converting it into a representation and referring it to the Ministry of Interior for a speaking order.
But in the other two cases, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Justice Arbab Mohammad Tahir have issued notices to the Federal Investigation Agency.
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In response, the FIA has submitted the ‘Stoplist Document’ of the Integrated Border Management System which shows that the three officials were placed on the Passport Control List on the recommendation of the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi.
The court has asked the Ministry of Defence to explain why the names of the Bahria Town officials were placed on the stop list and a response is expected to be furnished when the matter would be taken up again today.
