Corruption reference: Court issues notices to Sindh CM, other accused again

ISLAMABAD: An accountability court in Islamabad has issued notices to Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and other accused once again to appear in the hearing of a corruption reference, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

The accountability court conducted the hearing of corruption reference against Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah and others. During the hearing, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor pleaded the court to order arrests of the accused who remained absent.

The defence lawyer argued that the accused have only received the summons, hence only notices should be issued to them. He added that the issuance of arrest warrants without complying with the summons will be contrary to the principles of justice.

The counsel said that copies of reference were not provided to the accused in order to ascertain the charges against the nominated persons.

The NAB prosecutor told the court that 17 persons are nominated in the corruption reference.

Read: Sindh CM appears before NAB in Roshan Sindh Program graft probe

The accountability court’s judge remarked that notices would be issued again to the accused. He also directed the bureau to provide copies of the reference among the accused.

Later, the court issued notices to the absent accused once again and adjourned the hearing till April 19.

In the previous hearing, Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah along with co-accused including Khursheed Anwar Jamali and others had been asked to appear before the NAB court on March 31.

The record comprising statements of witnesses and proofs had been submitted in the accountability court against Murad Ali Shah consisting of 66 volumes by NAB Rawalpindi.

According to the reference filed by the NAB, CM Murad Ali Shah is accused of misusing the power in the disbursement of funds for the Nooriabad power plant project.

It stated that public funds worth billions have been embezzled for Nooriabad Power Company and Sindh Transmission and Dispatch Company. Sindh CM Shah and Abdul Ghani Majeed are among 17 persons who are nominated in the corruption reference by the anti-graft watchdog.

In October last year, it emerged that Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah and over 12 provincial cabinet members are on the radar of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) under corruption charges in separate cases.