Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani was apprehended from the Supreme Court after the apex court ordered that he surrender to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
According to media reports, the orders were passed while a plea from Durrani was being heard, requesting bail in a case involving assets beyond means.
The hearing bench was led by Justice Ata Bandial.
While the plea was being heard, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah noted that the Sindh High Court (SHC) had refused Durrani’s bail plea on merit.
Justice Shah said that Durrani’s case could not be heard on his plea without the decision of the High Court. Furthermore, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah stated that Durrani should have already been in prison had the SHC denied him bail. He questioned as to why the court should facilitate Durrani when the latter did not offer himself for arrest.
The apex court ordered Durrani to court arrest before NAB and submit to the SHC order, following which the court would hear the case next week.
The SC also denied Durrani’s plea to restrain NAB officers from apprehending him from the court premises.
Justice Bandial reminded Durrani that the SC had shown leniency to the latter before, referring to the SHC order against him. He also ruled out meddling in the NAB issue.
The case was postponed afterwards to next week.
Prior to this, the apex court had invalidated the SHC’s orders relating to Durrani’s release on bail in the case.
It should be noted that Durrani, along with 18 others alleged to be part of the case, have been charged by an accountability court in Karachi.
The anti-corruption monitor had filed a reference against Durrani, his relatives and others for allegedly hoarding assets, totaling Rs1.6bn, beyond means.
NAB maintains Durrani could not explain the mismatch between his revealed assets from 1985 to 2018, and his other sources of income like moveable assets.
The NAB inquiry stated that Durrani misstated the worth of 27 revealed and concealed assets including possessions and finances. It stated that the worth of the assets was greater than what Durrani had revealed.
