ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court on Tuesday extended the pre-arrest interim bail of former chief minister of Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah in a case pertaining to money laundering through fake accounts.

An IHC division bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani extended the interim bail till May 8.

Mr Shah was named in a report by a joint investigation team (JIT) tasked with probing the fake accounts case. He was among the 172 people named in the JIT report.

The veteran politician in his petition contended that he was being politically victimised and claimed that he had been dragged into the case without any solid evidence.

Counsel for Faryal seeks more time to advance arguments in kickbacks case

Meanwhile, the same bench, which was likely to announce its decision on a petition filed by PPP leader Faryal Talpur against the issuance of a call-up notice in a matter related to receiving alleged kickbacks in a joint venture project, adjourned the proceedings at the request of her counsel.

In her petition, Ms Talpur had contended before the court that the National Accountability Bureau had summoned her to record her statement on April 17 before the JIT probing the fake accounts case in connection with receiving alleged kickbacks.

She has been facing the allegation of receiving Rs1.2 billion in kickbacks.

Her counsel Farooq H. Naek argued that the matter in question was related to civil procedure and could be settled in civil courts. It was not a fake accounts case, he added.

The court had earlier reserved the order on the petition and was about to pronounce it, but the counsel sought court’s permission to advance more arguments in the case with the request that the hearing be adjourned.

Subsequently, the hearing on the petition was adjourned.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2019