NAB granted two-day transit remand of PPP lawmaker Khursheed Shah

Published September 19, 2019
PPP leader Syed Khursheed Shah was arrested on Wednesday at his residence in Islamabad in a joint operation conducted by NAB’s Sukkur and Rawalpindi teams. — DawnNewsTV/File
PPP leader Syed Khursheed Shah was arrested on Wednesday at his residence in Islamabad in a joint operation conducted by NAB’s Sukkur and Rawalpindi teams. — DawnNewsTV/File

An accountability court in Islamabad granted the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) two-day transit remand of PPP leader and lawmaker Syed Khursheed Shah, a day after he was arrested in a case regarding assets beyond his known sources of income.

A NAB team presented the former leader of the opposition before accountability judge Muhammad Bashir and requested a week-long transit remand of Shah to transfer him to Sukkur.

"Does it take that long to reach Sukkur?" judge Bashir asked NAB prosecutor Sohail Arif.

He also asked Shah how long it would take to reach Sukkur, in response to which the MNA said that by plane it takes two hours.

Arif said that there was only a morning flight and no other today.

The judge granted the accountability bureau two-day transit remand of the PPP leader.

Shah was arrested on Wednesday at his residence in Islamabad in a joint operation conducted by NAB’s Sukkur and Rawalpindi teams.

The leader is accused of getting an amenity plot in a housing society. The anti-graft watchdog claimed that he also had some benami properties in the names of his frontmen or servants. According to NAB, an inquiry against Shah revealed his involvement in the commission of offences as defined under Section 9(a) and Schedule of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999.

According to NAB, Shah was summoned by Sukkur NAB office on Wednesday in the cases but he had informed the bureau in writing that he could not appear due to some engagements in Islamabad. It also said the lawmaker being a public office-holder got transferred an amenity plot at Professors’ Cooperative Housing Society, Sukkur, in the name of his family to build a house and the money spent on its construction did not commensurate with his known sources of income and those of his dependents.

Shah joins a long list of opposition leaders — including former president and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, former finance minister Miftah Ismail, Maryam Nawaz, incumbent leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shahbaz — who are currently facing graft allegations.

Opinion

Editorial

Business concerns
Updated 26 Apr, 2024

Business concerns

There is no doubt that these issues are impeding a positive business clime, which is required to boost private investment and economic growth.
Musical chairs
26 Apr, 2024

Musical chairs

THE petitioners are quite helpless. Yet again, they are being expected to wait while the bench supposed to hear...
Global arms race
26 Apr, 2024

Global arms race

THE figure is staggering. According to the annual report of Sweden-based think tank Stockholm International Peace...
Digital growth
Updated 25 Apr, 2024

Digital growth

Democratising digital development will catalyse a rapid, if not immediate, improvement in human development indicators for the underserved segments of the Pakistani citizenry.
Nikah rights
25 Apr, 2024

Nikah rights

THE Supreme Court recently delivered a judgement championing the rights of women within a marriage. The ruling...
Campus crackdowns
25 Apr, 2024

Campus crackdowns

WHILE most Western governments have either been gladly facilitating Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, or meekly...