KARACHI, Nov 25: A Sindh High Court division bench allowed appeals moved by 13 accused convicted in absentia by accountability courts in different cases.

The appellants were tried under the National Accountability Bureau Ordinance and were sentenced to three years' rigorous imprisonment each.

According to the prosecution, the absconding accused were involved in corruption, misappropriation of public funds, misuse of authority and wrongful loss to the public exchequer in a number of references filed by the bureau.

Abdul Razzak Abbasi, Abdul Majid Pathan, Riaz Hussain Khoso, Niaz Baloch, Akhlaq Ahmed Bhugio, Mohammad Iqbal Solangi, Pervaiz Ahmed Dahiri, Zahid Umer Farooqui, Noor Mohammad Khatri, Saleh Mohammad Shah, Mohammad Saleem Patni and Humayun Sadiq were among the absconding accused whose appeals were allowed by the bench.

The bench, which consisted of Justices Wahid Bux Brohi and Rehmat Hussain Jafri, allowed the appeals by a short order for detailed reasons to be recorded separately in each case.

The bench made it clear that its order "shall not be construed to preclude the trial (accountability) courts from taking any proceedings in accordance with the law and adopting the legal procedure for the purpose of trying an offence punishable under Section 31-A of the NAB Ordinance."

No reasons were given, but the accountability court apparently did not follow the procedure prescribed for trial of the absconding accused.