SHC dismisses bail pleaof Nisar Morai, others in corruption case

The Sindh High Court on Wednesday dismissed the bail petitions of former chairman of Fishermen’s Cooperative Society, Nisar Morai, and others in illegal appointments, embezzlement of funds and corruption references.

Morai, Abdul Saeed Khan and other co-accused Amjad Iqbal were charged with illegally appointing 400 employees in the FCS during the period between 2014 and July 2017, illegal contracts of construction and embezzlement in trash fish sale without auction causing a loss of Rs343.796 million to the national exchequer.

The lawyers for the petitioners submitted that the National Accountability Bureau had filed references on baseless allegations and the prosecution failed to produce any sufficient evidence before the trial court.

They submitted that Morai and other co-accused were patients and they required proper medical treatment which was not available in the prison hospital. They requested the court to grant bail as they were appearing before the trial court.

The NAB prosecutor opposed the post-arrest bail petitions of the accused named in the corruption references. He submitted that the petitioners were involved in corruption and corrupt practices and they were not entitled to any relief from the court of the law as the references were also pending before the accountability court.

He added that the medical board constituted to examine the health of the petitioner did not show any life-threatening condition. After hearing the arguments of the counsel and perusal of the evidence, the SHC’s division bench headed by Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro observed that prima facie the petitioners Morai and Khan made appointments in the FCS without fulfilling the legal requirements and rules.

The court observed that the contracts of trash fish were issued to private companies which did not participate in the bidding process and the money collected through the sales was embezzled.

Regarding medical grounds raised by the petitioner’s counsel, the court observed that medical report does not show that the petitioner was suffering from any life-threatening condition and that he could not be provided medical facilities at the prison hospital. The court dismissed the bail petitions of Morai and others and directed the jail authorities to provide medical facilities to the petitioners without fail.

It is pertinent to mention that the court had earlier dismissed the pre-arrest bail of Morai and other co-accused Sultan Qamar Siddiqui, Shahid Hussain, Imran Afzal, Zulfiqar Ali, Amjad Iqbal, Riaz Ahmed and Khan.

The court also dismissed the post-arrest bail petition of Abu Bakar Mariwala and Gul Munir Sheikh in the case. The court, however, granted bail to one accused Wali

Mohammad on medical grounds, but directed the Ministry of Interior to place his name on the Exit Control List.