Sindh

Accountability court directs NAB to produce witness

Adjourns hearing in Rs5.76 billion advertisement scam case till August 28.

Our Correspondent August 12, 2018

PPP leader Asim Hussain. PHOTO: EXPRESS

KARACHI: An accountability court ordered on Saturday the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to ensure that the witness is produced at the next hearing in the Rs17 billion Jamshoro Joint Venture Limited corruption reference against former petroleum minister Dr Asim Hussain.

Dr Asim was present in court, along with the other suspects.

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The court expressed anger over the absence of the NAB witness and adjourned the hearing till August 18, directing NAB to ensure the presence of the witness at the next hearing.

Speaking to the media after the hearing, Dr Asim said it is time for unity and we must unite to take steps for the nation's prosperity even if it means swallowing bitter pills.

He said Pakistan was in great need of stability, adding that the government must sit with the people and fix what they deemed necessary so Pakistan could prosper.

Advertisement scam case

Meanwhile, an accountability court adjourned the hearing of a Rs5.76 billion advertisement scam case till August 28.

Sharjeel Memon, a former provincial information minister, was arrested in October last year by the federal anti-graft watchdog officials from outside the Sindh High Court after his interim-bail plea was revoked.

The bureau had booked him and 11 others - including the former provincial information secretary, other officials of the information department and heads of different advertisement agencies - for allegedly embezzling Rs5.76 billion.

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The suspect's lawyer will continue cross-questioning the NAB's witnesses at the next hearing.

Suspect Inam Akber and others involved in the reference appeared before the court on Saturday. Memon reached the court but returned with the court's permission due to illness. The suspects' lawyer cross-questioned NAB's witness Zeenat Jahan before the court on her statement.

Speaking to the media outside court, Memon said that the Pakistan Peoples Party worked for the people when it was in power. "This time, we are more ready to serve the people," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 12^th, 2018.