KARACHI: The Sindh High Court recalled the pre-arrest bail granted to a Pakistan Peoples Party lawmaker, former principal secretary to the Sindh chief minister, and others accused in a case pertaining to illegal sale of coal worth Rs2.241 billion.
MPA Faqeer Dad Khoso, former principal secretary Sohail Akbar Shah, former director general mines and minerals Abdul Rasheed Solangi, directors of a coal mining company and others had been nominated by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for illegally selling coal on the open market.
A two-member bench headed by Justice Farooq Shah observed that there were corroborating evidences against the accused and thus, dismissed their plea for extension of their interim pre-arrest bail.
It directed the trial court to conclude the trial within six months.
According to NAB, the Sindh Coal Authority (SCA) had leased out 8,626 acres of mining land at Lakhra, district Jamshoro to M/s Fateh Textile Mills Ltd (FTML) to install a 200-MW power plant within five-year period, but it failed to establish the power plant within the stipulated time and subsequently the lease was cancelled.
“The FTML did not make any investment to set up power plants but illegally sold out tons of coal in open market,” it alleged.
The NAB said that as per terms of the MOU signed between FTML and the provincial authorities, the mining firm was required to determine whether suitable quality and quantity of coal can be mined, handled, washed and transported to the site of power plants to produce 200 megawatts of electricity. It was also required to determine whether 1.5 million tons of coal could be mined annually for 30 years to meet the requirement of the power plant.
It said that Syed Abbas Ali Shah, the then director general of the SCA, had inspected the site where the washing plant was to be installed. He had observed that FTML was not serious at all to establish a modern or semi modern coal washing plant and coal-fired power plant. He, therefore, had recommended the cancellation of the agreement.
“However, Sohail Akbar Shah, the former principal secretary to the Sindh chief minister, had communicated to the SCA’s DG that he had received verbal directions from the chief minister to allow FTML to excavate coal for the washing plant and sell the surplus until the plants are set up,” the NAB alleged.
“Sohail Akbar, who is additional secretary (BS-21) at present, played a vital role by communicating the verbal orders of the chief minister and allowing the sale of coal in open market, thereby causing huge loss of Rs 2.241 to the national exchequer.”
