ISLAMABAD: Why were three Bahria Town officials off-loaded from a Saudi Arabia-bound flight? This is the question the Islamabad High Court has placed before the government in a case that is expected to be taken up for hearing today (Thursday).
The inquiry pertained to three distinct petitions that were submitted to the IHC by retired brigadiers Tahir Butt, Zafar Iqbal Shah, and Manzoor Hussain Mughal. Each of these petitions was scheduled for a hearing before a different bench. In Bahria Town, Butt is in charge of “Land Security,” Shah handles land-related issues, while Mughal is in charge of chief surveying for all real estate projects owned by contentious developer Malik Riaz.
Malik Riaz, the powerful real estate magnate, has been in the news lately, along with Bahria Town, after he made some unusual comments on social media in which he claimed to be under pressure to choose a political side.
Tuesday saw the real estate company’s Rawalpindi headquarters raided; this was reportedly done by the National Accountability Bureau and local law enforcement.
Amidst the £190 million corruption reference in the Al Qadir Trust case against former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi, observers note that this is taking place against the backdrop of Riaz and his family members being declared proclaimed offenders by the court for failing to appear before it.
Although Malik Riaz is regarded as having excellent ties to the nation’s military, civil society, and political sectors, his Bahria Town company has a history of legal issues.
The developer of real estate has been embroiled in a number of legal disputes, admitting to using dubious and ruthless methods of land acquisition to finance its lavish projects.
Added to the stoplist
The three representatives of Bahria Town argued in court that they were taken from a Saudi Arabian airplane at the Islamabad airport by immigration officials while they were on their way to perform the Umrah.
Judge Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb handled the petition in front of him out of the three cases; he turned it into a representation and submitted it to the Ministry of Interior for a speaking order.
On the other hand, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) received notifications from Justices Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Arbab Mohammad Tahir.
The three males were added to the Passport Control List on the suggestion of General Headquarters, Rawalpindi, as per the “Stoplist Document” that the FIA produced in response.
According to an FIA officer, an intelligence agency recommended that the petitioners be put on a black list or passport control list.
The “IBMS is integrated with the system of Directorate General of Immigration and Passports, Islamabad for purpose of transmission of real-time information,” according to the agency’s written statement.
The name of every person added to or removed from the PCL is “also transmitted to FIA IBMS in order to implement it (sic) by FIA immigration authorities” as soon as it happens.
But when the case is heard today, the Ministry of Defence is likely to provide an explanation for why their names were put on the stop list, as requested by the court.
