Indictment of Sharjeel, others in graft case put off till Aug 12

An accountability court (AC) once again put off the expected indictment of former provincial information minister and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Sharejeel Inam Memon and others in a Rs5 billion corruption reference until August 12 as a co-accused failed to attend Wednesday’s hearing.

The court was informed that co-accused Sarang Chandio could not appear before the court because of the death of a family member. At the outset of the hearing, the attorney for Memon said his client was implicated in a false case. He argued that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had earlier provided six folders of documents to his client as evidence of alleged corruption but later on the NAB supplied around 44 folders.

The attorney requested the court to reject submission of additional folders by the NAB and acquit Memon. At the previous hearing on July 28, the court had to put off the hearing as another co-accused, Asim Amir Khan, failed to show up for the proceedings. The court had intended to indict Memon and other co-accused in the over Rs5 billion corruption reference but could not do so due to Khan’s absence.  

Media talk 

Talking to journalists after his court appearance, Memon said he was hoping that newly elected Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi would not suppress the opposition the way his predecessor, Nawaz Sharif, used to do.

Commenting on his corruption reference, Memon said it was ironic that he was accused of committing corruption of over Rs5 billion which, he argued, was not possible.