High court recalls ex-info secretary’s protective bail order

Takes serious notice of Zulfiqar Ali Shalwani’s no-show,

orders nab to ensure his appearance

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has revoked the pre-arrest bail granted to a former provincial information secretary and two other accused in corruption references and ordered their arrest.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed a reference in the accountability court against ex-information minister Sharjeel Memon, former informer secretary Zulfiqar Ali Shalwani and other officials over alleged misappropriation of more than Rs5 billion in advertisements contracts.

To avoid being arrested, Shalwani had approached the high court, which granted him a pre-arrest bail. However, the petitioner has remained absent since then.

Hearing the bail petitions of the accused on Tuesday, the SHC judges took serious notice of the former information secretary’s absence. Revoking his bail, the SHC directed NAB authorities to arrest him and produce him in court. The same bench also revoked the pre-arrest bail of Amjad Pervez and Javed Iqbal in the illegal land allotment case because of their no-show since obtaining the bail.

NAB named the two men co-accused with former industries minister Muhammad Ali Malkani in the corruption reference, charging them with misappropriation of the department’s development funds to the tune of billions of rupees.

However, the bench issued a notice to NAB’s special prosecutor on an application moved by Malkani, who sought permission to travel to Saudi Arabia for performing Umrah.

Meanwhile, the SHC dismissed an application for urgent hearing filed by Memon, who sought a pre-arrest bail in the corruption reference and inquiries pending against him before NAB.

An accountability court had revoked his protective bail and declared him a proclaimed offender in the graft case on Saturday. The court was informed on behalf of NAB that the former information minister could not be arrested despite all efforts and that he had left the country to avoid detention.

Declaring the former minister a proclaimed offender, the court directed the relevant authorities to initiate proceedings against him under Section 87 (proclamation for person absconding) and Section 88 (attachment of property of person absconding) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

The court observed in its order that the Pakistan Peoples Party leader was directed by the SHC to appear before the trial court but he violated the order with his no-show. A week before that, the accountability court had reissued a non-bailable warrant against him.

Memon has been in London ever since law enforcement agencies launched a crackdown against corrupt politicians and bureaucrats.

He had told the SHC through his counsel that NAB had booked him in a false corruption reference while he was out of the country, and that the bureau had not issued him a call-up notice or provided any information beforehand.

He admitted that NAB had issued him a call-up notice, despite being out of the country, in a reference pertaining to illegal adjustment and consolidation of thousands of acres in Malir.

His counsel told the Sindh High Court that he was granted a transitory protective bail until December 26 to surrender before the trial court in the advertisement scam, while NAB was probing illegal allotment of government land in Malir.

The counsel said his client was prepared to return home but could not travel because of an ailment, adding that he sought a month’s extension in his transitory bail in the two cases so he could safely return to the country and surrender before the trial court.