In the last hearing on September 9, Memon's lawyer argued that the NAB chairman had allowed the inquiry without examining the case in detail. PHOTO: EXPRESS
The country's top anti-graft body informed the two-judge bench that the case against provincial chief secretary Muhammad Siddique Memon has entered the stage of investigation and requested for time to submit findings once the probe has been completed.
Headed by Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto, the bench directed the NAB investigation officer to submit a progress report on the investigation by October 24.
The province's top bureaucrat had approached the high court to obtain pre-arrest bail in August last year after the NAB initiated an inquiry against him.
Memon said he was served a call-up notice by the bureau, calling him for questioning in connection with alleged illegal regularisation and allotting six acres of land in Karachi's Scheme 33 in 1992.
He had maintained that the land was allotted in 1992 and regularised in 2008 in accordance with the rules while he was serving as secretary of the land utilisation department.
"Therefore, the notice from NAB is mala fide and tantamount to interference in the smooth functioning of the Sindh government," he had maintained.
The petitioner maintained that the NAB's call-up notice is illegal and unconstitutional since he has no role in the commission of the alleged offence.
Therefore, Memon had pleaded the court to grant him bail before arrest.
The court had granted him interim pre-arrest bail against a sum of Rs500,000 in surety.
In the last hearing on September 9, Memon's lawyer argued that the NAB chairman had allowed the inquiry without examining the case in detail. Therefore, the bench had directed the NAB chief to examine the case and take action strictly in accordance with the law.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 28th, 2016.
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