The bench hearing a petition against the proposed auction of five Bahria Town properties by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) dissolved on Monday, with the matter being referred to the Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for further proceedings.
The petition challenges notices issued by NAB for the auction of five Bahria Town properties scheduled for 7 July.
During the hearing at the IHC, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir informed counsel Farooq H Naek that he had previously heard the matter in an intra-court appeal.
The judge observed that IHC Chief Justice Sarfraz Dogar had also dealt with related proceedings in the past and would therefore be the more appropriate judge to hear the case.
Justice Tahir subsequently directed that the case file be sent to the IHC chief justice and expressed hope that the petition could be taken up later the same day.
Earlier, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had announced a public auction of six properties belonging to Bahria Town in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, scheduled for June 12. The move is part of ongoing efforts to recover funds linked to a plea bargain arrangement involving property tycoon Malik Riaz.
Last month, on June 6, NAB Karachi announced that it had frozen approximately $4.5 million held in foreign bank accounts as part of an ongoing money laundering investigation linked to Bahria Town.
According to investigators, the accounts were located in Mauritius and 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, following approval from an accountability court in Karachi.
Investigators alleged that the funds were transferred abroad through hawala and hundi networks, initially routed through the United Arab Emirates before reaching Mauritius.
On 12 May, NAB Karachi froze a luxury estate known as Ali Villa, reportedly linked to Malik Riaz, along with thousands of acres of land in various precincts of Bahria Town Karachi.
Officials said the 67-acre estate, located in Bahria Hills, includes facilities such as a helipad and a mini zoo. In addition, more than 1,300 acres of land in Bahria Greens and several residential precincts were frozen after being declared government-owned land.
NAB has further frozen 3,150 acres associated with Bahria Town 2, alleging that forest department land was unlawfully acquired and incorporated into the project. Authorities have prohibited any transfer, sale or creation of third-party rights over the affected properties.
According to NAB sources, Accountability Reference No. 1/2025 has already been filed before the Accountability Court in Karachi. The reference reportedly includes allegations concerning the illegal occupation of 17,672 acres of government land, with an estimated value of Rs708 billion.
