SC rejects bail pleas of Sharjeel Memon, others

ISLAMABAD – The Supreme Court on Tuesday turned down the bail pleas of former Sindh information minister and PPP leader Sharjeel Memon and two others in the corruption case of Rs5.76 billion.

A three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa heard the bail applications of Sharjeel Inam Memon, former Information Minister Sindh and other co-accused, including Inam Akbar, Yousaf Kabowo, Asim Hameed Khan, Basharat Mirza and Iqbal Z in corruption case of awarding government advertisements at exorbitant rates.

During the hearing, Sardar Latif Khosa requested the court to release his client. However, Justice Asif Saeed observed that the apex court in General (Retd) Fazle Haq case had held that it could not be directly approached for bail after the arrest and asked the learned counsel to approach the relevant forum.

It was adopted before the court that the NAB court has no power to issue non-bailable arrest warrants.

At this, the apex court observed that Sharjeel Inam Memon was already arrested hence they cannot hear his bail application after his arrest.

Sharjeel Memon was taken into custody by NAB on October 23, along with other suspects from outside the Sindh High Court’s main building after the court cancelled their interim bail in the corruption reference.

The former provincial minister is facing several charges of misappropriation and corruption. The NAB had filed a reference against him for awarding government advertisements at exorbitant rates, causing a loss of more than Rs5 billion to the national exchequer.

His counsel Sardar Latif Khosa argued that the NAB did not have the authority to arrest Memon in the first instance and the law could not be applied differently in different provinces.

He adopted that his client should also be given relief just like Nawaz Sharif and Ishaq Dar.

During the proceedings, counsel for Yousuf Kaboro, a deputy director of the Sindh Information Department and a co-accused in the case, submitted that his client was facing charges of signing the fraudulent advertising bills. He added that his client acted only on the orders of the minister.

Justice Dost Mohammad Khan, another member of the bench, observed that the country would be a better place when the government officials decline to accept illegal orders of their bosses

After hearing the arguments of counsels for the petitioners, the apex court dismissed the bail applications of Sharjeel Inam Memon who was already in custody of NAB besides rejecting appeals of Inam Akbar, Yousaf Koboyo and Asim Hameed Khan.

Similarly, the court also directed the NAB to submit within a week its reply on the appeals filed by other accused including Basharat Mirza and Iqbal against the non-bailable arrest warrants issued to them by the NAB court

Later, the NAB authorities took Inam Akbar and Yousaf Koboyo into their custody from outside the court premises after their bail pleas were rejected.

Source: The Nation