Land allotment case: Former chief secretary granted pre-arrest bail

Sindh High Court directs NAB to file progress report by January 16

KARACHI: While extending pre-arrest bail granted to the former provincial chief secretary Muhammad Siddique Memon in a case relating to the alleged illegal regularisation and allotment of land, the Sindh High Court (SHC) directed on Tuesday National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) investigation officer (IO) to file a report on progress of investigation by January 16, 2017.

The former top bureaucrat has been avoiding arrest since he obtained bail from the high court in August last year.

Memon said he had been served a call-up notice by the bureau, calling him for questioning in relation to land in Karachi's Scheme 33. He claimed that neither had he allotted such land nor had he regularised it. "Therefore, the notice from NAB is mala fide and interfering in the smooth functioning of the Sindh government," he had argued in the bail plea.

He maintained that NAB's call-up notice is 'illegal' and 'unconstitutional' since he has no role in the commission of the alleged offence. Therefore, Memon pleaded the court grant him bail before arrest to enable him to appear before the NAB for questioning.

Previously, the SHC had granted him interim pre-arrest bail for a sum of Rs500,000 surety.

Filing an interim progress report on Tuesday, the IO said call-up notices were issued many times, while two reminders were also sent to the relevant persons. "So far six statements have been recorded and the record is received from three witnesses," the report stated. The IO said the record from different relevant offices is still awaited. The officer assured he will complete investigations within the stipulated period and file report.

Therefore, the court directed him to file the progress report by January 16.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2016.