Ad campaign scam: SHC reserves verdict on bail pleas of Memon, others

The two-judge bench to unveil it verdict on March 2

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday reserved its order on applications seeking post-arrest bail for the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Sharjeel Inam Memon and co-accused in a case related to alleged corruption of Rs5.76 billion.

The SHC two-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M Sheikh, reserved its order after hearing arguments from the lawyers representing the accused. The order will be announced on March 2.



Memon, Sindh former information minister, was arrested in October last year by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officials from outside the SHC after his interim bail plea was revoked.

The anti-graft watchdog had booked Memon and 11 others – including former provincial information secretary, other officials of the information departments and heads of different advertisement agencies – for allegedly embezzling Rs5,766,479,766.

The money was embezzled purportedly in award of contracts to seven advertising agencies to run an awareness campaigns from 2013 to 2015.



On Friday, the lawyers representing the co-accused, including Gulzar Ali, Salman Mansoor, Sarang Lateef Chandio and Umer Shahzad, requested the court to grant bail after arrest to their clients. The applicants had denied the allegations of being involved in the scam.

Earlier, Advocates Sardar Mohammad Lateef Khosa, Shahab Sarki, Amanullah Shaikh, Manzoor Hussain Khoso, Amir Raza Naqvi, Khawaja Naveed Ahmed and others concluded their arguments in respect of Sharjeel Memon and others.

One of the accused Anita Baloch has already been declared proclaimed offender.