KARACHI: A federal anti-corruption court granted pre-arrest bail on Tuesday to former prime minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani in 12

different cases relating to multi-million rupee scandal in the Trade Development Authority.

The PPP leader reached the Federal Anti-corruption Court-1, along with a large number of his party leaders and workers, who raised slogans for him, despite the fact that only a day earlier the PPP-led provincial government had imposed a ban on all public gatherings under Section 144.

Mr Gilani’s counsel, Advo­cate Farooq H. Naek, infor­med the court that the former prime minister had been implicated in cases of misappropriation of Rs270 million.

Judge Mohammad Azeem granted Mr Gilani bail in the sum of Rs100,000 in each case and directed his counsel to ensure the PPP leader’s presence in the court on the next hearing of the cases.

On June 2, the court had issued warrants of arrest of Mr Gilani, and former commerce minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim and others after accepting a number of charge-sheets filed by the FIA.

The counsel informed the court that his client had not received any arrest warrant or summons of the court for his appearance before it, but he himself had surrendered before the court to face the trial.

Cases against the two PPP leaders, some former and serving senior officials of the TDAP and others were registered by FIA for their alleged involvement in approving and disbursing fraudulent trade subsidies of millions of rupees to several fake companies through fictitious claims and backdated cheques.

Former deputy secretary to Prime Minister’s Secre­tariat Mohammad Zubair, Farhan Junejo, Faisal Siddique, Mehr Haroon Rasheed, Mian Tariq, Zafar Hussain, Noman Siddiqui, Syed Mohibullah Shah and others were shown absconders in the charge-sheet.

The court directed FIA to arrest all absconding accused and adjourned the case hearing till July 10.

Published in Dawn, June 18th, 2014