KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Monday extended its interim order for the reopening of Aisha Bawany Government College, which was closed down by the Aisha Bawany Trust, till Oct 5.

A two-judge bench, headed by Justice Munib Akhtar, ordered that the college that was reopened on court order some three days ago shall remain open till the next date of hearing.

SHC Nazir Karamdin Junejo with Additional Advocate General Barrister Ghulam Mustafa Mahesar had visited the college last week and reopened it after breaking its lock.

The bench had ordered immediate reopening of the college while hearing a fresh constitutional petition filed by the college principal and teachers against the closure.

The principal informed the judges that the future of thousands of college students was at stake due to a rift between Ayisha Bawani Trust and the Sindh government over ownership of the land housing the college. The petitioner also informed the court that the college had not been reopened for six days despite the previous order of the SHC.

Sharjeel’s pre-arrest bail

A two-judge bench of the SHC, headed by Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M. Sheikh, extended the interim pre-arrest bail granted to former information minister Sharjeel Inam Memon and others in a Rs5.76 billion corruption case was extended till Oct 5.

Mr Memon’s pleas for confirmation of the interim bail and against the issuance of non-bailable warrants were fixed before the bench, but they could not be heard as the chief justice discharged the board on the request of the bar association to condole the death of Advocate Nawaz Khan Marwat.

The hearings of all cases scheduled for the day were adjourned, but important cases of urgent nature were heard by the judges in their respective chambers.

The former minister had moved the SHC, requesting it to quash the non-bailable warrants issued by an accountability court in October 2016 in graft case pertaining to the award of advertisements at exorbitant rates. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed a reference against the PPP lawmaker for allegedly causing Rs5.76 billion loss to the national exchequer through the embezzlement in the Sindh government’s advertisement campaign on electronic media.

The NAB had also issued him a notice for his appearance before the investigating officer regarding allotment and adjustment of land in 43 Dehs at throwaway prices to a real estate tycoon, depriving the public exchequer of billions of rupees in revenue.

In each of the two cases, the SHC approved the pre-arrest bail of the former minister against the surety bonds of Rs2 million in March.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2017