From Zeeshan Mirza
KARACHI: Following the decision of the Supreme Court, an accountability court in Karachi on Wednesday reopened a graft case of Rs5.75 billion against Pakistan People’s Party leader Sharjeel Memon.
The former Sindh minister along with other accused in the case reached the accountability court to challenge the ambit of the court.
After SC’s verdict in the NAB Amendment case, the ambit of the court cannot be challenged and the trial of the case will resume from where it was left, the court said. Accountability court after summoning the witnesses and the accused in the case on the next hearing, adjourned the further proceedings until October 5.
PPP leader Sharjeel Memon and 16 others have been charged with misappropriating advertisement funds of the information department to the tune of Rs5.76 billion.
NAB had filed a reference against them in 2016 over involvement in alleged irregularities in awarding contracts to different newspapers and channels for running public interest advertisements and others. The Supreme Court of Pakistan struck down amendments made to National Accountability Bureau (NAB) laws as it announced its reserved verdict on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman’s plea.
In a majority 2-1 verdict, the top court approved Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan’s petition challenging amendments made to the country’s accountability laws during the tenure of the previous Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led government.
