SHC extends Sindh minister's bail, directs him to appear before NAB

KARACHI: A bench of Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday extended pre-arrest bail of provincial Minister for Environment and Coastal Development Taimur Talpur until May 10, ARY News reported.

A two-judge SHC bench, headed by Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M. Shaikh also directed the PPP leader to appear before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Monday.

Earlier, a NAB official informed the court that Talpur was summoned many times but he didn’t appear before the bureau’s officials. “The court is dismissing his bail petition if he fails to comply the NAB summon,” Chief Justice Shaikh said.

The court ordered the minister to appear before the NAB.

“I have already appeared before the NAB, they are speaking untruth,” Taimur Talpur told the bench.

“Do you have a record of the accused appearing before the NAB”, the chief justice asked.

“All is recorded in a ‘guest record’, the NAB official informed the bench.

“You call the accused ‘guest’, people die of fear (with the name of NAB),” the chief justice retorted.

The court ordered the NAB to install cameras at the gate of the office, to know who came to you and who not.

The court in an earlier hearing had granted pre-arrest bail to Taimur Talpur against a surety bond of Rs500,000.

The court had directed the petitioner to cooperate with NAB in the investigations.

Minister Talpur, through his lawyer, submitted that he received a call-up notice from NAB last month seeking details about his assets. Expressing apprehension that he may be arrested, the minister requested the court to grant him pre-arrest bail.

The SHC granted him interim bail till March 29 (today).