SHC extends pre-arrest bails of Agha Siraj, Nisar Khoro

KARACHI: Sindh High Court on Wednesday extended pre-arrest bail earlier granted to speaker Sindh Assembly Agha Siraj Durrani and Sindh President of Pakistan Peoples Party Nisar Khoro in two separate NAB inquiries pertaining to charges of illegal appointment and corruption.

A deputy prosecutor of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) sought time to finalise inquiries from a two-member bench headed by Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro submitting that inquiry against Durrani had been sent to NAB headquarters in Islamabad while inquiry against Khoro would be completed within a month.

The bench extended Durrani’s bail till October 6, 2021, and Khoro’s till September 28, 2021, with directions to NAB to apprise it about the filing of references or otherwise on the given dates.

NAB inquiry against Durrani pertains to charges of making more than 300 illegal appointments at Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Medical University. While inquiry against Khoro pertains to release of huge quantity of wheat to flour mills against unsecured guarantees when he held the portfolio of provincial food minister.

According to the progress report of the inquiry against Khoro and others submitted to the court on Wednesday, M/s Ranipur Flour Mills, M/s Khairpur Flour Mills and M/s Gopang Flour Mills procured 15,600, 14,120 and 14,024 metric tonnes of wheat from Sindh Food Department respectively from the crops of year 2016-2017 under the 180-day credit policy.

However, the report mentioned that three flour mills failed to pay back the amount due over them within the stipulated time and the provincial food department sustained a loss of Rs1521.077 million on account of principal amount with additional loss of Rs142.33 million on account of mark-up.

The report pointed out that after initiation of inquiry, Rs1280.048 million had been recovered from the mills on account of principal amount and Rs5.440 million on account of mark-up. However, the mills still have to pay Rs241.028 million on account of principal amount and Rs136.89 million on account of mark-up.

The report said besides Khoro, investigations are being conducted against the then provincial secretary food Sajjad Hussain Abbasi, the then director provincial food department Muhammad Bachal Rahputo and mills’ owners/leaseholders Rehmaullah Shaikh, Abdul Jabar Shaikh and Waheed Ali Gopang.