Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani and others on Thursday have appeared before court in assets beyond income case. During the proceedings, three witnesses failed to attend the hearing.
National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor told that the court had sought original documents from the witnesses. The court expressed resentment over the NAB prosecutor and directed to issue bailable arrest warrant of the witnesses.
On December 3, 2021, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had arrested Agha Siraj Durrani from the premises of Supreme Court (SC) and shifted him to NAB Rawalpindi office where he underwent medical checkup.
A three-member bench headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial heard the matter and directed the speaker to surrender before the NAB and face the proceedings. Durrani’s lawyer requested the court to grant his client bail so that he can surrender before the relevant trial court. SC rejected the plea and directed him to first comply with the order of the Sindh High Court (SHC) and surrender before NAB, after which his case would be heard next week “We have to proceed with the case as per the law,” Justice Bandial stated. The court later adjourned the case till next week.
Earlier, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officers had raided the residence of the speaker following rejection of his bail from SHC but they failed to arrest him due to resistance from his guard. It is pertinent to mention that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had approved an inquiry against Durrani and others over various allegations of corruption in July, 2018.
The speaker has been alleged of accumulating assets worth Rs1.6 billion through illegal sources. National Accountability Bureau (NAB) said the assets of Agha Siraj Durrani were valued at Rs479.4 million but he showed them to be worth Rs151.6 million.
