KARACHI, July 7: The Supreme Court refused the National Accountability Bureau leave to appeal against grant of bail by the Sindh High Court to former PPP provincial minister and a builder in a corruption case.

Agha Tariq, former Sindh minister for mineral development, and builder Khalid Masood are alleged by the bureau to have acquired over 341 acres in Malir by fraudulent means in 1995.

According to the NAB reference, which also cites Ms Gulnar, Agha Tariq's wife, as a co-accused, the land was worth Rs500 per square yard at the time it was allotted to the accused but was leased out to him for Rs50,000 per acre.

The lease, according to the reference, was extended from 33 years to 99 years. The land use was then converted and the site was put to commercial and residential use. In collaboration with a construction firm, the main accused planned to build a complex named Marina City on the land, the prosecution alleged.

The Sindh High Court granted bail to the accused and NAB sought to challenge the order on the ground of want of jurisdiction. It said the NAB Ordinance barred grant of bail to the accused.

The NAB petition for leave to appeal was heard by an SC bench comprising Justices Rana Bhagwandas and Mian Mohammad Ajmal. The bench dismissed the petition and ruled that the accused were rightly admitted to bail by the high court.