ISLAMABAD: Bahria Town auction case proceedings were shifted on Monday after an Islamabad High Court bench dissolved and sent the matter to the IHC chief justice.
The petition challenged NAB notices for the auction of five Bahria Town properties scheduled for July 7.
During the hearing, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir told counsel Farooq H Naek that he had previously heard the matter in an intra-court appeal.
Justice Tahir observed that Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Sarfraz Dogar had also dealt with related proceedings. Therefore, he would be the more appropriate judge to hear the case.
The judge directed that the case file be sent to the IHC chief justice. He also expressed hope that the petition could be taken up later the same day.
Read: NAB Sells Bahria Town Property for Rs2.27 Billion in Auction
NAB had earlier announced a public auction of Bahria Town properties in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. This was part of efforts to recover funds linked to a plea bargain arrangement involving property tycoon Malik Riaz.
NAB Karachi said on June 6 that it had frozen about USD 4.5 million in foreign bank accounts as part of a money-laundering investigation linked to Bahria Town.
Investigators said the accounts were located in Mauritius. They were allegedly held in the names of Ahmad Ali Riaz and Mubashira Ali Malik.
NAB officials said the action was taken under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010. This happened after approval from an accountability court in Karachi.
The Accountability Reference No. 1/2025 had been filed before the Accountability Court in Karachi over the alleged illegal occupation of 17,672 acres of government land. The land was valued at Rs 708 billion.
