SHC extends interim protective bail to Firdous Shamim Naqvi

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday extended interim protective bail to Firdous Shamim Naqvi, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf lawmaker and the opposition leader in the Sindh Assembly, in a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) inquiry pertaining to land allotment.

The high court also directed the investigation officer to submit a progress report. Naqvi had approached the SHC for obtaining protective pre-arrest bail after receiving a call-up notice from NAB for an inquiry initiated by the bureau with regard to the allotment of land to a private company.

The petitioner’s counsel submitted that NAB had issued a call-up notice to his client. He said the inquiry was about a piece of land allotted to the Habib Group. He said the company was allotted a piece of land in 2006 on a 30-year lease when Naqvi was working as a director in the company.

A NAB special prosecutor submitted that an investigation was going on in the case and sought six weeks to conclude the same. The SHC, while extending protective bail to the petitioner, directed the investigation officer to submit a progress report on the next hearing.