KARACHI, May 19: A division bench of High Court of Sindh (SHC), comprising Chief Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed and Justice Mrs Qaiser Iqbal, on Friday allowed a constitutional petition filed by Farrukh Niaz, advocate.

Shaukat Hayat, advocate, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that since June 10, 2004, the name of the petitioner was placed on the Exit Control List and despite a number of representations, the ministry of interior, respondent in the petition, gave no reply.

No reasons or time period was mentioned in the impugned order, Shaukat Hayat submitted.

The bench, which on a previous hearing sought comments from a competent authority or officer inquired from the standing counsel, Mehmood Alam Rizvi, whether the orders have been complied with and whether reply from a competent person had been received or not.

The standing counsel informed the bench that a reply was still awaited. The bench, after this reply, through a short order, allowed the petition, directing the ministry to remove the name of the petitioner from the ECL

NAB reference: A division bench of High Court of Sindh (SHC), comprising Justice Zia Pervez and Justice Rahmat Hussain Jafferi, on Friday granted pre-arrest interim bail to a Wapda engineer facing charges of corruption in two different cases.

Abdul Aziz Chandio, Engineer, Thermal Power Station, Guddu sought pre-arrest bail in an accountability reference pending trial before an accountability court at Karachi on charge of corruption in purchase of high vacuum lubricant purifier in 1995 for Rs9.9 million.

The applicant maintains that although he was the member of tender opening committee, the responsibility, if any, rests with the then mechanical engineer of Guddu Thermal Power Station. The co-accused include Nawaz Ali Sameejo, the then chief engineer, Niaz A Dayo, mechanical engineer, Jan Mohammad and Parkash Lal.

The bench, after hearing Aamir Raza Naqvi, counsel for the applicant, admitted him to bail against a solvent surety of Rs700,000. The same bench also admitted the same accused in another case of purchasing battery chargers, and thereby causing a loss of Rs 4.3 million in 1995.

The bench, in this reference, admitted him to bail against a surety of Rs 700,000.

PROTECTIVE BAIL: A division bench of High Court of Sindh (SHC), comprising Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Gulzar Ahmed, on Friday granted pre-arrest protective bail to an applicant, Ms Shaheen Mohammad, wife of Mohammad Farooq, who is absconding in a 885 kgs heroin case.