SC takes notice of Sharjeel’s shifting from jail to hospital

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Mian Saqib Nisar on Friday took notice of the shifting of former Sindh information minister Sharjeel Memon from jail to a hospital.

Sharjeel Memon, presently on judicial remand, was arrested in the Rs5.76 billion corruption case in Karachi in November last year along with 11 others but was shifted to a hospital owing to his ill health. Taking notice of the issue, the chief justice sought a response from the Sindh Inspector General (Jails) and will hear the case at its Karachi Registry today (Saturday).

Earlier, the chief justice had taken notice of the shifting from jail to hospital of disqualified senator Nehal Hashmi, sentenced for contempt of court, and Shahrukh Jatoi, an accused in the Shahzeb Khan murder case. The apex court will also hear its notice on Jatoi’s shifting from jail to the Jinnah Hospital in Karachi.

Hearing Sharjeel Memon’s bail application on December 15, Supreme Court Justice Asif Saeed Khosa wondered why the health of everyone arrested by NAB deteriorates, observing that the law in this regard is being exploited by the powerful.

On Thursday, an accountability court indicted Sharjeel Memon and at least 12 others in the corruption reference. The suspects are accused of corruption worth Rs5.76 billion in the award of advertisements of the Sindh government’s awareness campaigns on the electronic media. The accused persons in connivance with one another have been alleged for awarding the contracts to favour certain advertising agencies and to their own favourites in violation of relevant laws and rules and against exorbitant rates.

Sharjeel Memon, who returned to Pakistan in March last year after ending his near two-year self-imposed exile, was arrested on his arrival by NAB but later he obtained bail.