OGRA scam: Tauqir Sadiq’s remand extended by two weeks

Court likely to take up bail application after Eidul Azha.

ISLAMABAD:

The Accountability Court has extended former Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) chief Tauqir Sadiq’s remand by another two weeks and directed the police to produce him before the bench on October 21.

On Thursday, Sadiq was produced before the court and the NAB requested to extend his remand for another two weeks.

Meanwhile, Sadiq’s counsel has filed his bail application in the Islamabad High Court and the court is likely to take it up after the Eid al Azha holidays.

The main accused in the Rs82 billion scam has been in Adiala jail on judicial remand for the last two weeks.

In Sadiq’s bail application, advocate Sardar Asmatullah has maintained that his client has been put behind bars while NAB had failed to produce any substantial proof. He argued that his client had remained in custody for more than 60 days and the authorities had failed to recover anything from his possession. The counsel requested the court to accept Sadiq’s bail application and pass the orders of his release.

According to an interim reference presented by NAB, Ogra Member (Gas) Mansoor Muzaffer Ali, Member (Finance) Kamal Farid Bijarani and Chairman’s Staff Officer Jawad Jameel were also involved in the scam. According to the reference, the former Ogra chief and the co-accused provided undue financial relief to the firms and individuals and issued licences for CNG stations on bogus documents.

On November 25 last year, the apex court had struck down Sadiq’s appointment as Ogra chairman.  He had fled the country and the NAB officials brought him back to Pakistan on July 9, 2013. He was kept at the bureau’s headquarters and produced for the first time in court in July.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11^th, 2013.