SHC restrains NAB from arresting senior KMC officer

The Sindh High Court on Tuesday restrained the National Accountability Bureau from arresting the senior coordinator director of the Karachi Metropolitian Corporation till November 21.

Senior KMC officer M Masood Alam moved the SHC for obtaining pre-arrest bail in the NAB inquiry pertaining to the purchase of fire engines for the KMC. The petitioner’s counsel submitted that he was barred by Federal Investigation Agency personnel from travelling abroad on the pretext that his name was placed on the Exit Control List.

He said that the petitioner was not aware about the inquiry pending before NAB; however, there was a media report about the initiation of an inquiry pertaining to charges of purchasing fire engines for the KMC and causing a loss to the exchequer by filing fake maintenance bills.

He sought protection against arrest by NAB and requested the court to grant protective pre-arrest bail to the petitioner. A division bench headed by Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M Sheikh, after the preliminary hearing of the petition, issued notices to NAB, the Federal Investigation Agency and others, and in the meantime restrained NAB from arresting the petitioner till the next date of the hearing.