An anti-corruption court in Lahore on Thursday acquitted all accused in a high-profile case involving the alleged fake registration of more than 4,000 non-customs-paid vehicles, ruling that the charges could not be proven.
According to the 24NewsHD TV channel, the case had been registered in 2020 by the Anti-Corruption Establishment Punjab against the 10 government employees, including four directors and two inspectors of the Excise Department.
The verdict was announced by Judge Javed Iqbal Warraich of the anti-corruption court.
Following arguments presented by defence counsel Shakeel Mayo and Chaudhry Ghulam Jailani Advocate, the court acquitted Excise Inspector Abdul Waheed Mayo, Excise Inspector Shahzad Safdar, former Motor Registration Authority in-charge Naeem Qadir, former Motor Registration Authority in-charge Adeel Amjad, data entry operator Adeel Ameen, data entry operator Muhammad Zaigham Ali, and motor registration clerk Abdul Qadir.
The court noted that although the anti-corruption challan alleged that more than 4,000 non-customs-paid vehicles had been fraudulently registered using fake vouchers and falsely shown as auctioned goods, the prosecution failed to substantiate these claims during trial proceedings.
A total of ten accused had originally been nominated in the case. However, four directors of the Excise Department, including Director Muhammad Asif, Director Sohail Arshad, Director Qamarul Hassan, and Director Imran Aslam, had already been acquitted earlier.
After reviewing the evidence and arguments, the court concluded that the allegations of fake vehicle registrations could not be proven beyond doubt, leading to the acquittal of all remaining accused.
Reporter: Jamaluddin Jamali