Ex-DG Gorakh Hill granted bail in NAB inquiry

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Tuesday granted interim protective pre-arrest bail to a former director general the Gorakh Hills Development Authority in a National Accountability Bureau’s inquiry pertaining to the alleged misuse of authority and development funds.

Petitioner Nasir Abbas Soomro moved the court for obtaining pre-arrest bail following a NAB call-up notice pertaining to the misuse of funds and withdrawal of funds amounting to Rs1,229.263 million.

The petitioner’s counsel, Omer Soomro, submitted that the petitioner had appeared before NAB along with the relevant record and submitted a written response with regard to the entire expenditure incurred on the development works for the Gorakh Hill Station.

He submitted that NAB’s inquiry officer had earlier expressed satisfaction over the reply, but after the lapse of one year the bureau had once again issued a call-up notice requiring the same details.

A division bench, headed by Justice Yousuf Ali Sayeed, after the preliminary hearing of the petition and without touching the merit of the case, granted protective pre-arrest bail to the petitioner for a surety of Rs500,000, and directed the petitioner to cooperate in the investigation.