PA secretary granted protective bail in two NAB inquiries

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday granted interim pre-arrest protective bail to the Sindh Assembly secretary in the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) inquiry and investigation with regard to embezzlement of funds in the construction of residences for Sindh’s parliamentarians and illegal appointments in the assembly secretariat.

Petitioner Ghulam Mohammad Umar Farooq had filed petitions with the SHC for obtaining pre-arrest bail in NAB inquiry and investigation with regard to allegations of embezzlement of funds in the project of MPA hostels in Karachi, and illegal appointments and out-of-turn promotions in the Sindh Assembly.

The petitioner’s counsel submitted that NAB initiated an inquiry against the Sindh Assembly speaker, Agha Siraj Durrani, and others on allegations of embezzlement of funds in the MPA hostel project, and later the inquiry had been converted into investigation.

He submitted that since the petitioner was acting as the Sindh Assembly secretary, he was apprehensive of his arrest at the hands of NAB, which had been acting with mala fide intentions.

The counsel informed the high court that although the inquiry had been converted into investigation but so farno call-up notice had been issued to the petitioner to appear before NAB and put up his defence.

The lawyer also sought interim pre-arrest bail for Farooq in another NAB inquiry against former Sindh Assembly secretary Hadi Bux Buriro and others on allegations of illegal appointments and out-of-turn promotions in the Sindh Assembly secretariat.

After a preliminary hearing of the petitions, the SHC issued notices to NAB and others, calling their comments. In the meantime, the high court granted interim pre-arrest bail to the petitioner in the NAB investigation and inquiry. The SHC also directed the petitioner to join NAB investigations.