Rs1.23b corruption reference: Khursheed Shah indictment deferred till November 3

SUKKUR: An accountability court Tuesday postponed indictment of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Khursheed Shah and 18 others in Rs1.23 billion corruption reference till Nov 3.

The accused was brought to the accountability court from the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) Sukkur.

Sindh Transport Minister Syed Awais Qadir Shah and others also attended the court proceedings.

The judge, after hearing arguments from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor and Khurshid Shah’s defence counsel, postponed indictment. The process was postponed for the fourth time. Talking to the media outside the accountability court, Khurshid said creating blasphemous sketches of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) in France hurt religious sentiments of the Muslim across the world. He said it was a conspiring to weaken the Muslims. Khurshid Shah asked why the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) was silent on the issue. He said it was time for the Muslims around the world to sit together to make a collective strategy against blasphemous acts. He said Pakistan needed a leader like Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in the present situation. He said Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) organised a successful rally in Quetta.

He said it was good thing to note that political leaders spoke about the survival of the Baloch, Sindhi, Punjabi and Pakhtuns at the public rally and there was no treasonous factor in it. They all talked for a single flag, he added.

Khurshid said he could not predict anything about the government fall till January. However, he added, it was a fact that government all policies including foreign and economic had completely failed.

He said the opposition was on the same page to send Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government packing. He said it was for the fourth time that his indictment had been postponed in a reference prepared by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against him. That means the reference was filed for political reasons.