Islamabad (Staff Report): The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has arrested former chairman of the National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) Ayaz Khan Niyazi.
A two-member bench of the apex court comprising Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and Justice Ijazul Ahsan resumed the hearing into the Rs 420 million in NICL corruption case.
During proceedings, the CJP observed that action should be taken against Niazi in the NICL scandal. When he directed authorities to arrest the former chairman, the bench was informed that the accused had been granted pre-arrest bail in NICL cases being investigated by the Federal Intelligence Agency (FIA).
However, Justice Nisar noted that since the cases were transferred to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the bail had become ineffective. He can be arrested if the bail is not extended to accountability court, observed the apex court.
The bench also ordered for the immediate arrest of Mohsin Habib Waraich and directed accountability courts in Karachi and Lahore to conclude the trial within two months.
The NICL scandal pertains to financial embezzlement by Niazi, then commerce minister (late) Makhdoom Amin Fahim and several others in the purchase of official land.
Late PPP leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim, former NICL chairman Ayaz Khan Niyazi along with other top officials of the company had been booked in cases pertaining to the purchase of land at various places and different times by NICL.
