SHC directs Ali Jahangir to surrender to NAB

A two-member-bench grant him protective bail for eight days

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) rejected on Friday the plea by former ambassador of Pakistan to United States of America, Ali Jahangir Siddiqui, to stop the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) inquiry against him and directed him to surrender to the NAB within eight days.

A two-member-bench, comprising Justice Iqbal Kalhoro and Justice Shamsuddin Abbasi, announced the verdict and granted him protective bail for eight days.

The counsel for Siddiqui argued that his client was  not connected to the NAB inquiry. He said that Siddiqui has been accused of selling shares at high rates. He added that investigations in the matter of shares do not come under NAB’s jurisdiction.

The counsel alleged that political opponents of his client had initiated propaganda against him after he was nominated as the ambassador to the US. He argued that NAB’s request to include Jahangir’s name in the exit control list (ECL) was based on ill intentions.

According to NAB, Siddiqui made the deal of shares through a company named Azgard Nine and has caused a loss of Rs400 billion to government organisations.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 23^rd, 2019.