HYDERABAD: The Accountability Court No1 in Hyderabad, led by Judge Naseem Akhtar Soomro, has acquitted 12 individuals involved in the corruption case related to land acquisition for the Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway (M-6), which allegedly involved over Rs5 billion. The acquittals followed a review of investigations conducted by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE), which found no evidence against the accused.
The 12 exonerated individuals, who included former Mukhtiarkars, clerks, tapedars, and a personal assistant to the ex-deputy commissioner of Naushehro Feroze, were released after the court concluded that no incriminating material had been uncovered. The prosecution, led by NAB’s special prosecutor, also confirmed the lack of evidence. This case had initially been investigated by ACE, before being handed over to NAB.
NAB’s reference, filed in 2023, had accused a total of 42 people, including several government officials and private contractors, of embezzling Rs5.8 billion meant for land acquisition for the motorway. The 12 individuals who were acquitted are among the first set of accused to be cleared, while investigations against 30 others, including suspended Deputy Commissioners Adnan Rasheed and Tashfeen Alam, are ongoing.
The court’s decision to acquit the 12 accused was made after final arguments from their counsels, who presented their pleas for exoneration. The court issued a two-page judgment, acquitting the individuals under Section 265 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). The reference against the remaining 30 accused is still under trial in the same accountability court.
