Court grants ex-PM Gilani interim bail in 11 cases

Anti-corruption court judge asks police to not arrest Gilani till the next hearing of the case on October 12

KARACHI: An anti-corruption court in Karachi granted on Monday former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani interim bail in 11 corruption cases related to a multibillion rupee trade subsidy scam.

The Federal Anti-Corruption Court granted interim bail to the former prime minister against a surety of Rs100,000 for each case. Further, the court asked police to not arrest Gilani till the next hearing of the case on October 12.

On August 27, an anti-corruption court in Karachi issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Gilani and fellow Pakistan Peoples Party leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim in connection to the multi-billion-rupee Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) scam.

Read: Non-bailable: Warrants issued for Gilani, Amin Fahim

The two senior PPP leaders were booked along with others for their alleged involvement in embezzling TDAP funds through fraudulent trade subsidies and fictitious claims when their party was in power.

More than 70 cases related to the scam had been pending before the court; Gilani and his associates were chargesheeted in 12 of these last year. However, both Gilani and Fahim obtained bail and exemptions from appearing in hearings.

On September 3, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) granted Gilani protective bail for seven days in the ninth case related to a multibillion rupee trade subsidy scam. Justice Noorul Haq N Qureshi granted the bail against a surety of Rs100,000.

Read: Gilani gets 7-day protective bail in ninth case

During the proceedings, PPP Secretary General Sardar Latif Khosa said that Gilani is regularly appearing before the courts yet the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) declared him an absconder in several other cases which was tantamount to making a mockery of law. He requested the court to bar the FIA from arresting Gilani in new cases without taking permission from the court.