KARACHI: Former Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ghulam Haider Jamali filed on Tuesday a petition to halt a corruption reference against him in an accountability court.
Jamali’s lawyer argued that his client cannot be tried in a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) court after the National Accountability Ordinance 1999 Repeal Bill, 2017 (now an act) came into effect, ending the NAB powers to act against employees of the Sindh government.
Jamali and other officers named in the reference are accused of unlawfully hiring 881 employees in Sindh Reserve Police Hyderabad, incurring a Rs500 million loss to the national exchequer.
The court issued a notice to the NAB prosecutor and adjourned the hearing till August 22.
The provincial government officially ended the jurisdiction of the NAO 1999 in the province on August 10.
On August 11, in a letter to the respective provincial departments, commissioners and deputy commissioners, the Sindh government stated that with the revocation of the NAO 1999, all corruption cases, inquiries, and complaints will now be probed by the provincial anti-corruption establishment.
The letter reiterated that with the new law in effect, NAB will have no role in the province, as it is now mandated to only investigate and hear cases related to federal institutions.