HYDERABAD: A division bench of the Sindh High Court, Hyderabad circuit, on Wednesday granted interim pre-arrest bail till July 14 to Ali Hassan Zardari, a cousin of former president Asif Ali Zardari, in a sum of Rs1 million in an ambulances misuse case.

The bench comprising Justice Abdul Rasool Memon and Justice Syed Saeeduddin Nasir directed the special prosecutor of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the deputy attorney-general (DAG) to produce whatever evidence they had against the petitioner on the next date of hearing.

The applicant has also been directed to cooperate with the NAB authorities in the investigation as and when summoned.

In his constitutional petition filed through Advocate Haq Nawaz Talpur, Ali Hassan Zardari has cited the NAB director general, Federal Investigation Agency, Anti-Corruption Establishment, Sindh IG, Shaheed Benazirabad SSP, Rangers director-general and others as respondents.

He said in the petition that various TV channels flashed the news on June 28 regarding a scam pertaining to alleged misuse of ambulances. It was claimed that intelligence agencies along with the Rangers were conducting an investigation into it. It was alleged that a raid was conducted and six ambulances were seized from his house, he added.

The petitioner claimed that the respondents were trying to implicate him in the false case although he had nothing to do with the matter. He further claimed that he was being victimised by the federal government on political grounds as he happened to be a cousin of former president Asif Ali Zardari. He said he approached the local [Nawabshah] police, who said they were not aware of any such raid.

He alleged that he was being harassed by respondents through telephonic calls from unknown numbers. He apprehended that he might be arrested in false and fabricated cases.

Petitioner Zardari said that on June 30, some people in plain clothes along with some in uniform came to his house and inquired about his whereabouts as he was not present.

He said they stayed at his home for about two hours and then told his family that he was wanted by them in the criminal case and he should surrender himself before the respondents.

The petitioner sought protection against harassment and arrest, saying that the respondents did not have any material evidence to link him with the alleged ambulances scam and that the investigation was based on ill-will.

On Sunday, NAB and law enforcement agencies personnel seized a fleet of passenger vans in a raid on a the Nawabshah-Sehwan bus stand claiming that the vehicles were in fact ambulances donated for the assistance of the 2010 flood victims.

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2015

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