SHC bars NAB from raiding houses of Sindh minister, relatives

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) Monday barred the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from carrying out raids on the residences of Sindh Irrigation Minister Sohail Anwar Siyal and his relatives.

A two-judge bench of the high court gave this restraining order while hearing bail petitions of the PPP minister and others. The court extended the interim bail granted to Sohail Anwar Siyal, Zafar Siyal and Jameel Soomro till November 12 and sought a progress report from the bureau on its ongoing inquiry against them. The bench observed that the NAB had no powers to raid houses without a search warrant nor could it persecute women by conducting raids without any plausible reason. Justice KK Agha said NAB officials ought to be accompanied by female police officers during a house raid.

A counsel for the PPP minister complained to the judges that officials of the bureau raided the residences of his client’s father, late uncle and other relatives without any search warrant and harassed their female family members.

The NAB prosecutor informed the court that the corruption watchdog had completed the assets beyond means inquiry against Sohail Anwar Siyal but it was yet to calculate the value of his properties. He sought time to complete the inquiry.