Durani escapes arrest at the hands of NAB

SHC rejects bail application of Sindh Assembly speaker, grants it to others

KARACHI:

Soon after Sindh High Court rejected Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani;s bail plea, a tense prevailed in front of his house in DHA, Karachi, when the NAB team reached in order to arrest him.

“Agha Sahab is not available at home. Show us a search warrant. We will not allow any male official to go inside. Please bring search warrant with a female official for entry inside our residence,” said Agha Shahbaz Durrani, Siraj’s son, to NAB officials and closed the bungalow door with his personal guards.

A NAB official who was leading his team showed him the court’s order and arrest warrant. “We are following court orders and will arrest him.” After heated arguments between Durrani’s son and NAB officials, the latter parked their vehicles in front of the house and decided not to move. There was no arrest till filing this report.

However, Durrani son came out of house with guards and spoke to the media, saying they would not allow NAB to search the washrooms of his house. “Last time, I was not available in the country and that’s why they entered our home and crossed all limits by humiliating family members and employees. We will not let them to repeat the same act,” he said.

He alleged that his family members were being victimised for their affiliation with PPP. “This is not for the first time. We have faced such cases in past too and will take it to the logical conclusion,” he remarked.

Sources in PPP told The Express Tribune that Durrani left his home to some undisclosed location soon after court orders. “At the time of NAB raid, Durrani was not present in house in Karachi. His son and guards were available with some family members,” sources said. The reports coming from various others in the loop suggested that Durrani left for Islamabad before the court judgment was announced.

Earlier, the Sindh High Court (SHC) rejected the bail application of Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani, but granted the same to his family members including Gulzar Ahmed.

Justice Nadeem Akhtar and Justice Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro announced the court’s verdict on the bail application filed by the Sindh Assembly speaker and others. The court had reserved the verdict last week.

Durrani, his wife, son and three daughters are nominated in the case. The speaker is accused of making assets worth more than Rs.1 billion by using illegal means. The reference against the Durrani is pending in the accountability court.

Read More: Sindh seeks NAB’s share of black money

The SHC had granted bail to Durrani and others, but NAB challenged the decision in the Supreme Court. The SC referred the matter back to the SHC for re-hearing of arguments on bail. SHC Chief Justice Ahmed Ali Sheikh formed a special bench of two judges to decide on the bail.

A total of 18 suspects are nominated in the reference. Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani, his wife, son and three daughters, Tufail Ahmed Shah, Metha Khan, Shamshad Khatun, Aslam Pervez Lankha, Zulfiqar Ali Dahar, Gulzar Ahmed, Shakeel Ahmed, Syed Muhammad, Ghulam Murtaza, Gul Bihar Lohar Baloch, Munawar Ali and Muhammad Irfan are among the accused.

ANF director summoned

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has summoned the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) director on appeals filed by his organisation.

A two-judge bench, headed by Justice KK Agha, heard the ANF appeals. “Some of the suspects come from outside the province. Hence, finding the suspects after release is a difficult process,” the ANF counsel argued.

The court ordered the ANF director to appear while expressing displeasure over non-service of the court’s notices to the suspects in the ANF appeals. The court directed the ANF director to appear on November 30, besides seeking a list of cases and a progress report from him.

The court remarked that the ANF filed appeals, but the court notices to the suspects are not being served. Justice KK Agha, in his remarks, said that appeals were pending even in cases of a minor nature. The court directed the force to submit details of the number of pending cases.

A case of extortion

The Sindh High Court, on an appeal, declared the time that a man accused of extortion spent in jail as part of his sentence.

A two-member bench headed by Justice KK Agha ruled on the appeal against the conviction of accused Arif Khan alias Khanzada on charge of extortion. The suspect was in jail from 2019. An anti-terrorism court had sentenced the accused to five years in prison.

According to police, the suspect was accused of demanding extortion money from a woman. A case was registered against the accused at New Town police station.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 14^th, 2021.