An IHC division bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani on March 26 had granted Shah interim bail against Rs1 million surety bonds and directed him to cooperate with the NAB investigation team.
Shah had expressed apprehensions that NAB officials may arrest him upon his appearance before the investigation team, and requested the IHC to grant him pre-arrest bail on the grounds that he is a senior citizen. His petition stated that he is 85 years old and is entitled to pre-arrest bail due to his age.
Sindh High Court grants bail to Qaim Ali Shah
The former chief minister was named in a report by the joint investigation team tasked to probe the fake accounts case. He was among 172 people named in the report whose names were to be placed on the no-fly list.
The senior politician in his petition contended that he was being politically victimised and claimed that he had been dragged into the case without any solid evidence.
Shah said that he had been politically active since 1960 when he was elected chairman of the Khairpur district council and then successfully contested the general elections.
Former CM Sindh Qaim Ali Shah files request seeking pre-arrest bail
He said that he was the longest-serving chief minister of Sindh and had completed eight consecutive years in office.
During preliminary arguments, Shah's counsel told the court that NAB had summoned the ex-CM in connection with an investigation into Thatta Sugar Mills and Dadu Sugar Mills.
The court observed that the instant petition was about NAB's call up notice in the Thatta Sugar Mills inquiry. The counsel replied that he would file another petition for the second NAB notice regarding Dadu Sugar Mills.
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