The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to anchorperson Shahid Masood against surety bonds worth Rs500,000 in a case pertaining to embezzlement of Rs38 million from state-run broadcaster Pakistan Television (PTV) A two-member bench headed by Justice Manzoor Ahmed accepted Masood’s bail application today. The anchorperson stated in his appeal that he is a “blunt” analyst and critic of government policies, due to which he has been “a target.”
According to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Dr Masood during his tenure as managing director and chairman of PTV was involved in the embezzlement of Rs37 million in acquiring Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) media rights in 2008. The agreement was allegedly carried out with a fake company – M/s International Sports Solution (ISS). Investigators claim that funds were also released, causing the loss of millions of dollars to PTV as the state-run television channel failed to acquire PCB media rights from 2008 to 2013.
Published in Daily Times, January 29th 2019.
