KARACHI, June 30: Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany of the Sindh High Court granted on Thursday interim pre-arrest bail till July 13 to the sacked revenue minister, Imtiaz Ahmed Sheikh, in five criminal and corruption cases. In a double murder case in which district and sessions judge (south) Agha Rafiq Ahmed Khan has issued a warrant for his arrest, the ex-minister was admitted to bail in the sum of Rs250,000.

He, along with others, is accused of attacking and killing Chaudhry Salim and Chaudhry Rafiq and injuring Yasir and Zafar Iqbal, who is the complainant in a kidnapping-for-ransom case against him.

The kidnapping case is being tried by an anti-terrorism court. He was granted bail in the case till July 11 by an SHC division bench on Wednesday. Both the deceased in the murder case were related to the complainant, who lodged an FIR against kidnapping of his son, Umer Iqbal.

In three corruption cases, he was given interim bail to enable him to surrender before the trial anti-corruption court in the sum of Rs 200,000 each. He is facing a wide array of charges, including concealment of his property in London, forgery of revenue record to occupy hundreds of acres of land and misuse of authority to cause wrongful gain to him and loss to the public exchequer.

According to his counsel, Imtiaz Sheikh had disposed of his flats in London before contesting the October 2002 provincial assembly polls and there was no question of their inclusion in his declaration of assets before the Election Commission.

A sixth case pertains to illegal possession of forest land in Kandah Nawabshah. The bail in the case was granted subject to his furnishing surety amounting to Rs 100,000.

Opinion

Editorial

Doctor attacked
09 Jun, 2026

Doctor attacked

AN act of reprehensible violence has shaken the medical community. On Saturday, an employee of the Provincial Civil...
AJK flare-up
09 Jun, 2026

AJK flare-up

MATTERS have worsened in the stand-off between the Azad Kashmir government and the Joint Awami Action Committee,...
Fault lines
09 Jun, 2026

Fault lines

THE April 8 ceasefire that halted hostilities between Israel and Iran has encountered its most serious test yet....
Soft on traders
08 Jun, 2026

Soft on traders

THE Fixed Tax Asaan Scheme for traders with an annual turnover of up to Rs200m has been designed as a ‘pragmatic...
Ceasefire in name
Updated 08 Jun, 2026

Ceasefire in name

Both sides accuse the other of violating the truce that was supposed to halt the conflict in April, yet neither appears willing to abandon negotiations altogether.
Damaged childhoods
08 Jun, 2026

Damaged childhoods

CHILD abuse is so prevalent that the UN ranked Pakistan as the least safe country for children. Even so, more than...