SHC rejects Agha Siraj's plea to suspend arrest warrants

KARACHI: A bench of Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday turned down a petition seeking suspension of arrest warrants of Sindh Assembly’s Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani, ARY News reported.

Justice Iqbal Kalhoro ruled, how can the court suspend the arrest warrant when it is already implemented.

Counsel of Agha Siraj Durrani pleaded the court for hearing bail petition of his client.

Justice Kalhoro replied that an immediate hearing of the bail plea is impossible due to summer vacations of the court.

The bench summoned arguments over the petition in the hearing on August 07.

An accountability court hearing a reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against Agha Siraj Durrani.

Defence counsel in his arguments said that Durrani’s assets were not illegal his client’s family owns properties from several generations. Agha Siraj also owns rice and sugar mills, counsel said.

The counsel argued that the reference filed by NAB against his client is non-maintainable.

The NAB had recently filed reference pertaining to assets beyond means of income against Agha Siraj Durrani and others.

The NAB named 20 persons including Agha Siraj as accused in the reference filed in an accountability court in Karachi after an inquiry.

Agha Siraj Durrani has been in jail on judicial remand.

According to the NAB charge-sheet the accused were involved in corruption of upto 1.6 billion rupees.

The NAB executive board had approved filing of a reference against Agha Siraj Durrani in assets case.

The NAB Karachi had arrested Speaker Sindh Assembly Agha Siraj Durrani from a hotel in Islamabad in February this year.