A city court on Tuesday indicted Pakistan Peoples Party leader Sharjeel Memon and three others standing trial on charges of possessing liquor.
A judicial magistrate of the South district framed charges against Memon and his three domestic servants, Shakar Din, Mushtaq Ali and Muhammad, to which they pleaded not guilty. Earlier, the police had also named Central Jail Karachi officials Naseem Ahmed and Habib Ahmed as co-accused in the preliminary investigation report.
The court adjourned the hearing till March 18, summoning the witnesses to appear and depose regarding the case.
Two bottles of liquor were found from Memon’s room in Ziauddin Hospital, Clifton, which had been declared sub-jail by the provincial home authorities, as then chief justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar paid a surprise visit to him.
According to the charge sheet, the co-accused admitted that they dumped the liquor in the dustbin and also replaced their contents. They were taken into custody on the charges of tampering with the evidence.
After the incident, the PPP leadership appeared on media, insisting that the bottles contained honey and olive oil. The chemical report also said that there was no alcohol in them. Also, the blood report of Memon did not find any alcohol traces.
However, then Karachi police chief, AIG Dr Amir Ahmed Shaikh formed a special team to probe into the case, suspecting foul play, and the team subsequently prepared its report and assisted the investigation team.