The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday granted bails to former deputy managing directors of the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) Shoaib Warsi and Zuhair Siddqui in the Rs 17 billion corruption case.
The SSGC officials were nominated along with Dr Asim Hussain in a reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) with an accountability court. According to the reference, the suspects had caused Rs 17.34 billion losses to the national exchequer through awarding illegal gas connections to a private company.
Warsi and Siddiqui had approached the high court, stating that they were not involved in any criminal activity and all the allegations levelled against them were baseless.
The SHC bench, headed by Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, accepted the bail pleas after hearing the arguments of the NAB and petitioner’s counsel. It directed the applicants to submit surety bonds of Rs 2 million each.
On March 5, the NAB had filed a reference alleging that a private company, Jamshoro Joint Venture Limited (JJLV), was allowed to process gas from five fields in lower Sindh without conducting an open auction, incurring a loss of Rs 17.34 billion to the national exchequer. The reference reflects that Dr Asim issued illegal gas connections in the capacity of petroleum minister in collaboration with his co-accused.
Earlier, Warsi had submitted that he was picked up by the Rangers on August 26, 2015 and he remained in their custody for a period of three months. After the expiry of his 90-day preventive detention, he was handed over to the NAB.
