The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday extended protective pre-arrest bails of three accused nominated in a corruption case by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against PPP leader and former petroleum minister Dr Asim Hussain.
Jamshoro Joint Venture Limited (JJLV) Director Iqbal Ahmed along with former officials of Oil & Gas Company Limited (OGDC) Basharat Mirza, Zahid Bakhtiar and Yousuf Ansari has been nominated in the corruption reference pertaining to award of illegal gas contracts to a private company.
On Thursday’s hearing, the court extended the bails of the accused till 10th of May. Earlier, on 31st of March, the SHC had granted interim bail to all the accused against the surety bonds of Rs 5,00,000 each.
On 5th of March, the NAB had filed a reference alleging that a private company was allowed to process gas from five fields in lower Sindh without conducting an open auction, incurring a huge loss of Rs 17.34 billion to the national exchequer. The Bureau is investigating into charges of illegal gas connection issued to JJLV by Dr Asim in the capacity of petroleum minister.