National Accountability Bureau (NAB) arrested Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani after the Supreme Court (SC) rejected his plea seeking bail in an assets beyond means case.
NAB sought Durrani in a reference filed against the speaker and his family for illegally obtaining assets worth Rs 1.6 billion. The inquiry against Durrani was initiated in July 2018 over several charges of corruption. NAB is also investigating Durrani in another two cases for making 352 illegal appointments and for alleged corruption in the construction of the Sindh Assembly building and the MPA hostel.
Durrani sought relief from the SC after his plea for pre-arrest bail was rejected by the Sindh High Court (SHC) last month. During the hearing, held before a three-member bench of the Supreme Court, Justice Umar Ata Bandial asked the speaker to surrender before NAB.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah remarked that Durrani’s plea had been rejected by the SHC on merit. He told Durrani that he should already be in custody given the SHC’s verdict from last month. He asked the petitioner why he should be given relief by the apex court when he had defied the orders of the high court. He ordered Durrani to comply with the order issued by the SHC and only then will his plea be heard in the SC.
The apex court also rejected Durrani’s plea of stopping NAB from arresting him from the court premises.
