Qaim Ali Shah moves SHC for pre-arrest bail in NAB inquiry

KARACHI: The former chief minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah on Saturday filed a petition for obtaining the pre-arrest bail following the issuance of a call up notice by the National Accountability Bureau for an investigation into the land allotment case.

The petitioner's counsel Barrister Zamir Ghumro submitted that the NAB issued the call up notice to the former chief minister on December 18 levelling vague and ambiguous allegations and called upon him to appear before the joint investigation team, headed by the additional director NAB, to record his statement.

He submitted that the petitioner believes that the impugned call up notice was served to arrest him on political grounds. He submitted that the NAB has issued the call up notice to the petitioner for the powers exercised by him as the CM Sindh, which cannot be called into question being in contravention of the Article 248 of the Constitution.

Expressing his surprise that the alleged case has reached the investigation stage, whereas the allegations are surrounded in mystery which reflects that the respondents are conducting a fishing and roving inquiry.

The counsel submitted that the impugned call up notice cites violation of the Sindh land grant policy of 2006 and allotment of land at prices less than the prevalent market rate without attaching the land grant policy nor mentioning the allotment price. He also submitted that the NAB failed to specify the petitioner's involvement in the alleged offence without any positive proof besides the allotment in question was already cancelled. The court was requested to quash the NAB's call up notice by holding it unlawful and discriminatory. The former CM is already on protective pre-arrest bail by the SHC in an illegal adjustment/consolidation of thousands acres of land in the Malir district.