SHC reserves order on Sharjeel Memon's bail plea

NAB had filed a reference in accountability court regarding alleged corruption in information dept's campaign

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) reserved on Friday its order on an application seeking the confirmation of protective pre-arrest bail granted earlier to Pakistan Peoples Party leader Sharjeel Inam Memon in a Rs5.76 billion corruption reference.

Headed by Justice Muhammad Junaid Ghaffar, a two-judge bench reserved its verdict after hearing arguments from the applicant's lawyer and the National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) special prosecutor.

The national anti-graft watchdog had filed a reference in the accountability court regarding the alleged corruption in the advertisements campaign of the provincial information department.



The prosecution had alleged that being then provincial minister for information Memon was involved in corruption to the tune of Rs5.76 billion by running government awareness campaigns in the media on behalf of the provincial government.

It also named former information secretary, Zulfiqar Shalwani, and others in the reference, which was pending before the concerned accountability court.

In November last year, he was granted protective bail against a surety of Rs2 million and ordered to deposit his original passport with the SHC's nazir (official).



Opposing the plea for bail confirmation, NAB Special Prosecutor Altaf Hussain alleged that there was corruption in different campaigns regarding awareness of the dengue virus, Sindh Cultural Festival and others as the contracts were awarded after the advertisements had been run.

The prosecutor alleged that the relevant laws were flouted while awarding contracts, which were granted to specific advertisement agencies through Memon and others. He maintained that four out of seven advertisement agencies had confessed to corrupt practices and had voluntarily returned the money.

The prosecutor pleaded to the court to recall the bail granted to Memon and dismiss his application, as he was not entitled to bail.