SHC grants protective bail to ex-CM Qaim Ali Shah in land allotment case

The Sindh High Court on Friday granted proactive bail to former chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah in a NAB inquiry pertaining to a Clifton land allotment case.

Shah had moved the SHC for obtaining protective pre-arrest bail in the NAB inquiry.

The petitioner’s counsel Zamir Ghumro submitted that the National Accountability Bureau had arrested former secretary Sajjad Ahmed Abbasi in connection with the land allotment and he was later pardoned by the bureau after his statement was recorded under Section 26 of the NAB Ordinance.

He submitted that the former secretary had implicated the authorities in his statement and the petitioner was the chief minister at that time. He said his client apprehended action by NAB on the basis of what he called “cooked up” charges.

The counsel requested the court to grant his client protective bail so that he could invoke the jurisdiction of the relevant court in Islamabad. After hearing the arguments of the counsel, the court granted the former CM protective bail for a surety of Rs500,000 and directed him to appear before the relevant court.