Hearing adjourned due to judge’s absence

Court puts off hearing of NAB reference against Khursheed Shah till July 14

SUKKUR: An accountability court adjourned on Tuesday the hearing of an assets beyond means reference filed against Pakistan Peoples Party leader Syed Khursheed Shah till July 14 due to the non-appointment of a judge, which has been pending for the past one and a half month.

The position has been lying vacant since former accountability court judge Ameer Ali Mahesar completed his tenure.

As a result, the hearings of many references filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), including that against Shah, have been facing delays.

The NAB has nominated Shah and 17 others, including his two wives, two sons and a son-in-law, in a reference pertaining to making assets worth Rs1.23 billion beyond his their known sources of income.

Shah was granted a bail in the case by an accountability court in December last year after the NAB failed to file the reference within the given time.

However, Sindh High Court's Sukkur bench later nullified the accountability court order.

Besides, the high court also rejected Shah's plea seeking a bail, following which the PPP leader approached the Supreme Court.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 24^th, 2020.