ISLAMABAD, March 2: The Supreme Court on Friday suspended a Sindh High Court order that required the National Accountability Bureau to arrest suspects under investigations for their involvement in corruption.

A bench of the apex court, comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, was hearing an appeal of the NAB against the SHC order that once evidence was collected and suspicion turned into reasonable ground for involvement of an accused in some corruption, the NAB chairman was bound to arrest the accused and make the offence non-bailable.

On Jan 17, a division bench of the Sindh High Court had ruled that arrest of an accused was mandatory for prosecuting a reference against him and that no corruption reference should be entertained before putting the accused behind the bars first.

The high court order had come on bail appeals of six low-paid employees of a school and the postal department – Zahur Ahmad Shaikh, Mohammad Mateen, Nisar Ahmad Jatoi, Mohammad Alam, Naik Mohammad and Wakeeluddin. They had applied for bails when the NAB started investigation against them. The court had denied them bails and questioned their liberty and ordered that all under-investigation accused should be taken into custody.

However, the NAB filed an appeal before the Supreme Court on behalf of its chairman, challenging the decision of the SHC saying the NAB law provided discretion to its chairman not to arrest an accused if he cooperated during investigation.

Representing the NAB, Tariq Mahmood argued that the NAB law had been dubbed as “draconian law” or “black law” and as such if there was any relief for the accused, it should not be taken away. He maintained that the arrest of a person at the initial stage of prosecution would amount to taking away his fundamental human right to freedom.

Later, the counsel told reporters that massive arrests were expected as a consequent of the high court judgement. He said such a decision would take away the right to liberty and freedom, particularly when the NAB law had already earned notoriety.

After hearing the arguments, the apex court suspended the operation of the SHC judgment and observed that pending bail applications would be decided on merit.