SHC extends Sharjeel Memon’s protective bail till Jan 31

Surety amount to be forfeited if ex-info minister fails to appear at trial court

The Sindh High Court on Wednesday extended protective bail of former provincial information minister Sharjeel Inam Memon in a corruption reference, making it clear that the petitioner’s surety amount would automatically be forfeited if he failed to appear before the trial court.

The PPP leader, who has been living in self-exile in London after law-enforcement agencies launched a crackdown against corrupt politicians and bureaucrats around two years ago, says he was booked in a false corruption reference by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) without his being issued with any call-up notice or given any other information when he had been out of the country. 

Memon says NAB had issued him with a call-up notice pertaining to illegal adjustments and consolidation of thousands of acres in Malir though he had been abroad.

His counsel said the court had granted transitory protective bail to his client till December 26 and told Memon to appear at the trial court in the Rs5 billion advertisement scam and that the NAB investigation pertained to illegal allotments of government land in Malir. 

He further said the former minister was to arrive in the country, but he could not travel due to ailment. He produced a medical certificate of his client and sought another extension of transitory bail till January 31 in the two cases so that he could safely land in the country and appear before the trial court for obtaining bail. 

NAB’s special prosecutor did not oppose the extension plea but requested the court to direct the trial court to ensure that proceedings were not be hindered or delayed in any way on account of the petitioner’s absence.

A division bench, headed by Justice Syed Mohammad Farooq Shah, observed that protective bail of the petitioner was being extended keeping in view the exceptional circumstances mentioned by his counsel.

The court extended the protective bail till January 31 with an additional surety of Rs1 million each in two cases, observing that total surety amount would automatically be forfeited if he failed to surrender before the trial court before the expiry of the concession of bail unless exceptional circumstances were made out.

The court had earlier extended Memon’s protective bail till December 26 increased the surety amount to Rs4 million. It made it clear that no further extension would be allowed in future unless exceptional circumstances were made out.

NAB has filed a corruption reference against Memon, information department officials and advertising companies’ representatives for committing corruption in the award of advertisements of provincial government’s awareness campaigns in the electronic media involving over Rs5 billion.