KARACHI: An accountability court on Tuesday remanded Pakistan Peoples Party leader and former provincial minister Sharjeel Inam Memon and 11 others in judicial custody in a reference pertaining to corruption in the information department.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had arrested the accused outside the Sindh High Court on Monday after a division bench dismissed their interim pre-arrest bail.

NAB had filed a reference last year against the former minister, then provincial information secretary Zulfiqar Ali Shalwani, deputy directors of information department Anita Baloch, Mansoor Ahmed Rajput and Mohammed Yousuf Kaboro and others for allegedly committing corruption between 2013 to 2015 in awarding advertisements of provincial government’s awareness campaigns in electronic media that caused a loss of around Rs3.27 billion.

Defence counsel calls for same treatment to client as given to retired Captain Safdar

NAB officials produced the suspects before Judge Rashida Asad of the Accountability Court-I asking the court to send them to prison on judicial remand.

However, defence lawyers opposed it contending that the arrests were illegal since the NAB officials were not authorised to take them in custody.

Representing Mr Memon, Advocate Amir Raza Naqvi filed an application under Section 91 (power to take bond for appearance) of the Criminal Procedure Code and argued that after the dismissal of his bail plea from the high court, NAB arrested the applicant without obtaining any warrant from the trial court.

He added that NAB could not arrest any suspect after filing the reference. He further submitted that the applicant was also regularly attending the hearings before the trial court when he was on interim bail and pleaded to release him against the bond and also sought legal action against the NAB officials who arrested the applicant without a warrant.

The lawyer submitted that retired Captain Mohammad Safdar of the PML-N was also released under the same provision by an accountability court in Islamabad after his arrest in a graft reference.

The lawyer also moved an application seeking better facilities for the former minister in prison.

Meanwhile, accused Mansoor Rajput also moved an application under Section 63 (discharge of person apprehended) of the CrPC seeking his release.

The court sent all the suspects to prison on judicial remand till Nov 4 and issued notices to a NAB prosecutor on the applications for arguments on the next hearing.

Some provincial ministers and PPP lawmakers were also present during the hearing.

The court had already provided copies of documentary evidence of the prosecution to the suspects as required under Section 265-C (supply of statements and documents to the accused) of the CrPC and now the matter is fixed for indictment.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2017