KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Thursday confirmed the interim pre-arrest bail of former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, former petroleum secretary Arshad Mirza and two others in a reference about the alleged illegal appointments to two key posts in the Pakistan State Oil (PSO).

The two-judge bench headed by Justice K.K. Agha directed the interior ministry to put the names of all the petitioners on the exit control list.

However, the lawyer for the former premier, Khawaja Naveed, informed the bench that the name of his client was already on the no-fly list.

For reasons to be recorded later, the bench confirmed the interim bail of the former prime minister, former petroleum secretary, former managing director of PSO Sheikh Imranul Haq and deputy managing director (finance) Yaqoob Sattar on same terms and conditions granted at the time of interim bail.

On May 19, the SHC had granted interim pre-arrest bail to Mr Abbasi and others against a surety bond of Rs500,000 each.

The National Accoun-tability Bureau (NAB) had filed a reference against Mr Abbasi of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Mr Mirza, accusing them of appointing Sheikh Imranul Haq as managing director and Yaqoob Sattar as deputy managing director (finance) of the PSO in violation of rules and regulations.

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2020