KARACHI: While ext­ending provincial Law Minister Ziaul Hasan Lanjar’s interim pre-arrest bail, the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday directed him to provide all documents to the National Acco­untability Bureau (NAB), which is conducting an inquiry regarding his involvement in corrupt practices and for amassing wealth beyond his known means.

Mr Lanjar had approached the SHC against the call-up notice and alleged harassment by NAB officials and sought bail to avoid his arrest in connection with the inquiry.

His counsel, advocate Farooq H. Naek, told the judges that his client did not know what documents the NAB required. He said the NAB may write to his client for the documents and details which it needed.

Addressing the defence counsel, the SHC chief justice remarked that he was a senior lawyer and he knew very well what NAB wanted from his client.

The NAB prosecutor submitted that the assets and wealth of the provincial minister increased imm­ensely after 2008. He said NAB had asked the PPP minister to furnish details of his income by legal practice. He added that Mr Lanjar had recorded his statement before NAB investigators but had not given certain details and documents to them for investigation.

A two-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M. Shaikh, directed Mr Lanjar to give NAB all required details and documents within a week and put off the hearing to Oct 11.

During the previous hearing, the SHC had expressed its displeasure over the absence of the provincial minister from the proceedings and warned him that his pre-arrest bail might be revoked if he did not appear in court. Mr Lanjar in his petition submitted that NAB had issued him a call-up notice directing him to appear before it to answer its queries.

The minister requested the SHC to restrain NAB from arresting him by granting him pre-arrest bail.

Published in Dawn, September 6th, 2017