Perpetual arrest warrants for Malik Riaz, son and co-accused in Karachi Bahria landgrab case

KARACHI: An accountability court has issued perpetual non-bailable arrest warrants for property tycoon Malik Riaz, his son and other accused in the Bahria Town Karachi land grab case, according to court proceedings that emerged on Thursday.

Accountability Court Judge Syed Nadeem Hussain Shah issued the warrants for Malik Riaz, his son Ahmed Ali Riaz, Zain Malik, former Board of Revenue official Ahmed Baksh Narejo, former land utilisation secretary, and others. The court also declared them proclaimed offenders and directed the National Accountability Bureau's investigating officer to arrest them and present them before the court for further proceedings. It also ordered that their passports be blocked.

The National Accountability Bureau had filed a reference in 2025 against the owners of Bahria Town, senior Pakistan Peoples Party leaders and government officials over allegations that government land was converted, exchanged and transferred to Bahria Town for its Bahria Town Karachi project.

Case background

The anti-graft watchdog had started an inquiry in 2015 after receiving complaints about the alleged occupation of government land by Bahria Town for its project in Malir near the M-9 Motorway. That inquiry was later converted into a formal investigation in 2016.

In the 2025 reference, NAB alleged that the executive hierarchy, the revenue board, the Malir Development Authority and others had acted together to hand over valuable public land to Bahria Town. The reference named 33 accused, including Bahria Town chairman Malik Riaz, senior PPP and Sindh government figures such as Senior Minister Sharjeel Memon and former chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, among others.

According to the reference, the accused, acting in connivance, grabbed around 17,000 acres of public land for Bahria Town under the garb of adjustment, exchange and consolidation during 2013-14, allegedly in violation of the law, causing a loss of more than Rs708.08 billion to the national exchequer.

Allegations in NAB reference

The reference stated that then chief minister Qaim Ali Shah connived with co-accused by not approving the summary for CM dated Jan 12, 2016, which had been forwarded by prosecution witness and then member Board of Revenue Sindh Mohammad Waseem for cancellation of an earlier order issued on Dec 26, 2013 by Ahmed Baksh Narejo in violation of the MDA Act, 1993.

NAB further alleged that instead, CM Qaim Ali Shah, with mala fide intentions, directed the local government department secretary to issue a corrigendum on May 5, 2016. The reference claimed that the chief minister neither had jurisdiction nor was competent to issue such a corrigendum.

It also alleged that Sharjeel Memon, who was MDA chairman and local government department minister at the time, approved regulation regarding consolidation / adjustment / exchange of private Kabuli survey lands & state land alleged by the board of revenue etc. in violation of Section 49 of the MDA Act.

The reference further claimed that in the first MDA meeting held on Jan 24, 2014, Memon approved the adjustment of government land to Bahria Town and had also approved the preliminary concept plan of 32 dehs as well as the layout plan of Bahria Town Karachi in violation of law and regulations.

However, both PPP leaders had obtained pre-arrest bail from the Sindh High Court in the case.