FCS reference: Supreme Court hears bail petitions of Nisar Morai, others

KARACHI: A Supreme Court bench at Karachi Registry heard the bail petitions of former chairman of Fishermen’s Cooperative Society (FCS), Nisar Morai, and others on Wednesday in illegal appointments, embezzlement of funds and corruption reference, ARY News reported.

The counsel of Morai pleaded to the court for constitution of a three judges bench of the apex court for hearing the bail petition.

The counsel argued that a three judges’ bench hears NAB cases in Supreme Court.

The court ruled for constitution of a three judges bench and adjourned the hearing.

The prosecutor of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) argued before the bench that the accused have been involved in corruption and financial irregularities. He said the prosecution have irrefutable evidence of the charges against the accused.

An accountability court hearing corruption reference against the accused, the NAB counsel said.

Earlier, the Sindh High Court had dismissed the bail pleas of the accused.

Morai and others were charged with illegally appointing 400 employees in the Fishermen’s Cooperative Society during the period between 2014 and July 2017, illegal contracts of construction and embezzlement in trash fish sale without auction causing a loss of Rs343.796 million to the national exchequer.

The lawyers for the petitioners had submitted that the NAB had filed references on baseless allegations and the prosecution failed to produce any sufficient evidence before the trial court.

They submitted that Morai and other co-accused were patients and they required proper medical treatment which was not available in the prison hospital. They requested the court to grant bail as they were appearing before the trial court.

The NAB prosecutor opposed the post-arrest bail petitions of the accused named in the corruption references. He submitted that the petitioners were involved in corruption and corrupt practices and they were not entitled to any relief from the court of the law as the references were also pending before the accountability court.

The court dismissed the bail petitions of Morai and others and directed the jail authorities to provide medical facilities to the petitioners without fail.