NAB given time till Feb 6 to submit report on probe against PPP MPA

Munawar Talpur’s counsel informs SHC that inquiry
pending for two years with no significant progress

The Sindh High Court directed a special prosecutor of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Monday to tell the court if the bureau had closed its investigation against Pakistan Peoples Party MNA Mir Munawar Ali Talpur.

The PPP leader, who is a brother-in-law of former president Asif Ali Zardari and already on interim bail, submitted in the petition that he was granted protective bail by the high court in the NAB inquiry pertaining to illegal appointments and misappropriation of funds in salaries of teachers.

Petitioner’s counsel Farooq H Naek said the NAB inquiry was pending for the last two years and no progress had been made. He sought details of the inquiry against the petitioner.

NAB’s special prosecutor Mohammad Altaf Khan sought two weeks time to file proper comments if the investigation in question had been closed.  The SHC’s division bench, headed by Justice Syed Mohammad Farooq Shah, granted time directed the NAB counsel to submit the comments by February 6.

 The NAB had initiated the inquiry against Mir Munawar Ali Talpur on the basis of complaints regarding accumulation of assets through corruption and corrupt practice. MNA Talpur had alleged that NAB officials were causing harassment to him.

  Detention case

The SHC has directed the Sindh Rangers DG and others to file comments against detention of a KANNUP’s employee and an Mphil student by law enforcers.

Petitioner Shoib Mehmood, Mohammad Hasan and Afshan Mahaal submitted that law enforcers had picked up Muzamil Shah, Mohammad Farhan, Syed Abid Raza, Syed Taqi Hasan and Mahaluddin from Lyari, Shadman and Gulshan-e-Iqbal areas, and their whereabouts were unknown.

The Petitioners submitted that Muzamil was a driver in KANNUP while Mahaaluddin was an IT technician and student of MPhil who were taken into custody during raids conducted on November 11 last year and January 13, 2017. The court expressed dissatisfaction over the statement of the paramilitary force in the detention case of Muzamil and directed the DG Rangers to file comments on the petition.