During the Supreme Court hearing on the Bahria Town property auction case, Chief Justice Yahya Afridi recused himself from the matter and directed that it be reassigned to the previous bench.
Bahria Town’s lawyer informed the court that the Islamabad High Court had issued its detailed judgment and would present additional submissions in light of that decision. The court granted permission for the submissions and adjourned the case indefinitely.
At the previous hearing, the Supreme Court had dismissed Bahria Town’s plea for a stay order against the auction of its properties. That hearing was presided over by a three-member bench headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan. During the proceedings, Justice Aminuddin clarified that the matter before the bench was only a miscellaneous application, not the main appeals. Bahria Town’s counsel, Farooq H. Naek, said he had been informed late at night that his case was listed, and the court’s office should clarify why the main appeals were not scheduled.
Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan noted that only the miscellaneous application was fixed for hearing and the main appeals were not yet on the roster. He directed that copies of NAB references be attached to the appeals to clearly show the alleged misappropriation. He said that the accused had previously entered into a plea bargain with NAB, surrendering eight properties, but was now claiming that the plea bargain was made under pressure. An application had been filed with the NAB chairman to withdraw the agreement. According to him, once the plea bargain was rescinded, the case returned to its initial stage, meaning the properties could only be confiscated after conviction following trial.
Farooq H. Naek stated that both the plea bargain termination request and the NAB references were still pending. Justice Aminuddin stressed that a stay order would not be granted unilaterally and that the other party must be heard. The court ordered the counsel to submit copies of the references against Malik Riaz and Bahria Town. The case was then adjourned until August 13.
