Pre-arrest bail of ex-secretary, two others recalled

NAB had filed a case with the accountability court over misappropriation of Rs5 billion in advertisement contracts

KARACHI: Taking serious notice of their continuous absence, the Sindh High Court (SHC) recalled on Tuesday the pre-arrest bail granted to the former information secretary and two others accused in corruption references and ordered their arrest.

Headed by Justice Syed Muhammad Farooq Shah, the two-judge bench ordered the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) authorities to arrest ex-secretary Zulfiqar Ali Shalwani, Amjad Pervez and Javed Iqbal.



NAB had filed a reference with the accountability court against the former information minister Sharjeel Inam Memon and other officials over alleged misappropriation of more than Rs5 billion in advertisement contracts.

Apprehending his arrest, the former secretary had approached the high court, which had granted him bail before arrest. However, the petitioner remained absent ever since he obtained bail.

During the hearing of their bail petitions on Tuesday, the judges took serious notice of the absence of Shalwani. Recalling his bail, the judges ordered NAB authorities to arrest Shalwani and produce him in court.

The same bench also recalled the pre-arrest bail granted to two others accused, Pervez and Iqbal, in an illegal land allotment case. They failed to appear in court after obtaining bail.

However, the bench issued notices to the NAB special prosecutor on an application moved by the former minister Malkani who sought permission to travel to Saudi Arabia for performing Umrah.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 18^th, 2017.