An accountability court on Tuesday returned a reference to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against Yousuf Ahad Malik for alleged fraud of Rs 40 million, over lack of jurisdiction.
The court directed the bureau to take up the matter with the relevant forum for further action.
The court held that the matter did not fall under its jurisdiction as per amended National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 2022.
Accountability Court Judge Zubair Shahzad Kiyani passed the orders while deciding an application filed by the accused, Yousuf Ahad Malik, challenging the jurisdiction of the court to hear the matter.
The accused had filed the application under the amended NAO, saying that the accountability court was not empowered to hear any reference involving an amount below Rs 500 million, under the amended law. He submitted that the reference amount was below Rs 500 million and it did not come under the jurisdiction of the court.
The NAB had filed Rs 40 million references against the accused over committing fraud with people. It was alleged that the accused received money as advance from the victims on the promise of providing shops to them in Ahad Tower, Kalma Chowk but failed to give them ownership rights of shops.
