SHC rejects KMC official Masood Alam's pre-arrest bail plea

KARACHI: Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday rejected a pre-arrest bail plea from the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) Director Masood Alam as National Accountability Bureau (NAB) submitted in the court that an inquiry against him was sent to their headquarters for approval, ARY NEWS reported.

During the pre-arrest bail plea, a NAB prosecutor said that they had received a complaint regarding the KMC official over his alleged role in transferring money to London.

The defendant’s lawyer said that Masood Alam was barred from travelling abroad by immigration officials. On this, the SHC Chief Justice remarked that Masood is insisting that he wanted to travel to Canada at all cost.

“When no inquiry is approved against him then why a bail plea is filed?” the court asked and rejected the bail plea. The court also barred the NAB authorities from taking any above the law action against the KMC official.

It said that if an inquiry is to be launched against him then a call-up notice should be given to the KMC official.

In November 2019, the high court granted pre-arrest bail to senior director coordination of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) Masood Alam until Nov 29.

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The SHC bench restrained the National Bureau Authority (NAB) and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from arresting him.

Alam through his lawyer stated before the bench that he arrived at the Karachi airport along with Mayor Wasim Akhtar to board a flight to Copenhagen, Denmark to attend a four-day World Mayors’ Conference on Climate Change.

But, he added, he was barred from flying out of the country by immigration staff at the airport for his name being on FIA’s stop list.