Nasla tower case: Court directs main accused Kaka be put on ECL

KARACHI: An anti-corruption court in Karachi on Wednesday directed Interior Ministry to put the name of main accused in Nasla tower case on Exit Control List (ECL).

Anti-corruption judge ordered that former director general (DG) Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) Manzoor Qadir Kaka and co-accused Khair Muhammad Dahri be placed on a no-fly list.

Both the accused are currently under custody at the Karachi Central Jail.

The court also ordered the authorities not to remove both accused from ECL till further order and adjourned the hearing into the case till August 15.

Manzoor Kaka was serving as SBCA DG and is accused of unlawfully passing the map of Nasla Tower, increasing the land of building from 780 square yards to 1,141 square yards, encroaching upon the service lane.

A report submitted by Karachi’s commissioner mentioned in the court order confirmed the illegality “In the opinion of this office, the available record suggests that the area of plot No. A-193 is 780 sq yds, and all excess area measuring 341 sq yds occupied by the Nasla Tower building is encroached.”

Over his continued absence from the trial proceedings, Kaka had been declared a proclaimed offender. He had obtained a protective bail from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on July 26 after surrendering before the court on his return from abroad.

The 15-storey residential building – Nasla Tower was demolished on the directives of the former Supreme Court Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed in an anti-encroachment case in 2021.

The demolition which started in November 2021 was finally completed in February 2022, rendering hundreds of people homeless.