Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) leader Sharjeel Inam Memon was released from prison on Tuesday after the Sindh High Court (SHC) granted him bail.
The SHC granted bail to the former provincial minister against surety bonds of Rs 5 million. The two-member bench, comprising Justice KK Agha and Justice Omar Sial, had heard the bail petition.
The bench had earlier reserved its verdict after hearing arguments of the defence and prosecution sides.
During the hearing, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor contended that Memon had been accused of misusing his authority. A complaint was received against the Sindh government with regard to alleged award of advertisements at exorbitant rates, he added.
The investigation officer told the court that 17 people, including the PPP leader, were named in the case.
There are a total of 52 witnesses in the reference, out of which 10 have recorded their statements, he added.
Earlier in October 2017, a NAB team had arrested Sharjeel Memon after the SHC rejected his bail plea in the corruption case.
Previously, the SHC had turned down two separate applications moved by Memon seeking his release on bail. There are many other NAB cases against him.
Separately, an accountability court in Lahore on Tuesday remanded former Punjab minister for Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries Sibtain Khan in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) custody for eight more days in a case related to alleged corruption and illegal award of contracts.
Accountability Judge Amir Ahmed Khan directed NAB to produce the MPA before him on July 3. Khan was produced before the court amid tight security on completion of his 10-day remand.
The NAB prosecutor requested an extension in the accused’s remand for further interrogation in the case.
He told the court that Khan, as minister for Mines and Minerals, had illegally awarded a contract worth billions in Rajwah and Chiniot in 2000.
The contract was awarded to the company which had no experience in the relevant field, the prosecutor claimed.
Khan’s lawyer, however, stated that the corruption watchdog had already shelved an inquiry into the alleged scam. A probe carried out into the matter by NAB previously held that the national kitty didn’t suffer any loss.
Separately, the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday sought a reply from the NAB director general over the performance of bureau officials.
A two-member bench, comprising Justice KK Agha and Justice Umer Siyal, heard the bail pleas of former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sindh Ghulam Hyder Jamali, AIG Tanveer Tahir and others.
The bench observed that NAB had showed discrimination in arresting the accused. “Some accused are arrested during the investigation process, while others are not being arrested after the reference is filed against them,” the bench observed.
“The national institution has been ruined due to the negligence and illegal steps by NAB officials,” Justice Umer Siyal remarked.
Justice KK Agha criticised NAB officials and remarked that according to NAB rules, it could not investigate cases involving less than Rs 100 million corruption.
The accused in the corruption references are ex-IGP Ghulam Hyder Jamali, ex-AIG Tanveer Ahmed Tahir and Works and Services sub engineer Rizwan Hussain.
The former IGP, AIG and other officials are accused of allegedly committing corruption in Sindh police funds that resulted in a loss of over Rs 150 million to the national exchequer. The accused had embezzled funds from the salaries of policemen in the name of funds.
The accused had also caused losses worth billions of rupees to the national exchequer on the account of maintenance of police vehicles while awarding contracts to their personal contacts without any tender.
