KARACHI, June 14: A division bench of the Sindh High Court granted bail to a National Accountability Bureau official involved in a corruption case.

Haider Ali Khokhar was working as a deputy secretary in the provincial government when he was deputed to the bureau as a deputy director. An inquiry against an education officer of Badin was assigned to him and he allegedly demanded Rs10,000 from the officer as illegal gratification. The officer lodged a complaint with the NAB, which conducted a raid and arrested its deputy director.

A charge-sheet was submitted in an accountability court, which declined his bail plea.

The accused approached the high court and argued that he had been behind bars since Nov 4, 2004, while under Section 16(a) of the NAB Ordinance, the trial should have been completed within 30 days. NAB counsel Ainuddin Khan opposed the plea, saying that trial was in progress and five witnesses had already been examined.

A division bench, comprising Justices M. Mujibullah Siddiqui and Syed Zawwar Hussain Jaffery, said the time-frame given by the ordinance was to be given significance as a directory but not as a mandatory provision. Without going into merits, the bench said the allegation involved an amount of Rs10,000 and the accused had already been in custody for 18 months. Therefore, he was admitted to bail in the sum of Rs50,000 .