SC directs NAB to re-examine assets, agri income of Durrani

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled to set principles for the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani’s case besides looking into high standard facilities being provided to the accused.

A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, heard the bail application of Speaker Sindh Assembly Agha Siraj Durrani in a reference filed by the NAB for accumulating assets through illegal means.

The court directed the NAB to re-examine the assets and agriculture income of Agha Siraj Durrani and adjourned the matter for two weeks. During the course of hearing, the special prosecutor NAB, while requesting for the cancellation of bail of the accused, submitted that the court will be satisfied on every aspect of the case and will establish that the real income of the accused does not match with his assets.

The NAB prosecutor told the court that the payment details for purchasing assets by the accused and its pay orders were available on the record and will be submitted before the court.

The prosecutor rejected the stance of the accused given before the court regarding the agriculture land and contended that the accused said in the court he was the owner of 894 acres of land but he had declared 194 acres of land in wealth returns submitted in the Election Commission. Justice Ayesha A Malik, however, asked as to why the accused did not provide complete detail to the anti-graft body. Salman Akram Raja, counsel for Agha Siraj Durrani, said it will be provided to the court.

Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial questioned as to how they could examine the documents being produced directly before the court. "It is true that the accused did not become rich abruptly and belonged to a wealthy family, but the other aspect of the case is that he did not make any investment from 1986 to 2009,” the chief justice remarked.

The chief justice observed that the accused possesses watches worth of millions of rupees. "Some people are fond of watches, weapons and cars, but the people like us are just book readers,” the CJP remarked. Later, the court adjourned the hearing for two weeks.