ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is said to have sought guidelines from Asif Ali Zardari before deciding the fate of a shocking Rs 450 billion government houses scam in Karachi.

The PM has come under mounting pressure from the Sindh government, not only to stop the housing ministry from cancelling the dubious 3,128 eligibility certificates, but also to let the accused off the hook to save the political alliance with the MQM.

The Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights has already told the housing ministry to cancel these eligibility certificates as they do not carry any weight in the eyes of the law, as the former housing minister Syed Safwanullah, who is at the centre of this scam, had issued those certificates without getting the approval of the cabinet and secretary housing Rauf Chaudhry, the administrative boss of the ministry.

Talking to The News, an official source in the Prime Minister Secretariat said now the ball was in the court of Asif Zardari to decide if he wanted to save the public property worth Rs 450 billion, which was doled out by the MQM minister among his favourites, or preferred his new political alliance with the MQM in Karachi.

The source said Zardari would be required to choose one option and most probably, he would prefer alliance with the MQM. The MQM is also desperately trying to grab the Housing Ministry at the Centre to dump the whole scam, which has badly tarnished its image.

These sources have confirmed to The News that despite regular posturing of PM Gilani that he was his own boss, he was not in a position to take such a big decision on his own to tell the Housing Ministry bosses to follow the rule of the law and immediately issue a notification to cancel the eligibility certificates.

The sources said the Housing Ministry bosses are said to have been told by the prime minister that it was better to seek the advice of Asif Zardari and act in the light of his decision. Zardari will be consulted by the top guns of the Housing Ministry after his return from London where he had gone to meet Nawaz Sharif to hold a final meeting on the issue of the restoration of the judges.

This correspondent constantly tried to get the official version of Housing Minister Rahmatullah Kakar but his phone was found switched off. The sources said Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah was particularly disturbed over the reports of the multi trillion rupees scam as he thought it might cost him dearly in political terms.

Earlier, the scam had taken a new turn when it was revealed in the Senate on Wednesday that the master file of the real estate scam had been stolen from the ministry and an inquiry was already under way. The minister had also confirmed that another official file containing the inquiry report compiled by estate officer Sher Afzal Khan along with hundreds of evidences was also stolen from the ministry record. It was being reported that a joint secretary of the Housing ministry who had recently retired from government job may have some thing to do with it. The officials said last time the master file was seen with this joint secretary.

Objections are already being raised about the inquiry officer who is a junior officer and would be required to probe all those who have been his bosses or senior officers in different capacities. Moreover, he is not in a position to even impose any penalty or decide any action against his seniors if found guilty of theft of master and inquiry report files from the official record of the Housing ministry.