KARACHI: Provincial lawmaker and former information minister Sharjeel Memon challenged his arrest in an accountability court on Monday, saying that his arrest warrants weren’t issued on October 23, the day he was taken into custody, hence his detention should be declared illegal.
During the hearing, the counsel defended his client arguing that Sharjeel’s arrest was not directed by the honourable court and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has misdirected the judiciary on Memon’s arrest.
The counsel added that his client was taken into custody from the court’s premises which is contradictory to the NAB’s statement that they had arrested Sharjeel near the passport office.
The lawyer requested the court to immediately give its decision on his client’s petition against his arrest.
The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader was arrested by the NAB on October 23, after hours of being holed up in court premises. He was taken into custody as he left the court.
Sharjeel Memon is facing corruption allegations worth five billion and 77 crore rupees in the award of advertisements of the Sindh government’s awareness campaigns in the electronic media.
The PPP leader, who returned to the country from self-imposed exile in March this year, had obtained protective bail in April in connection with an enquiry initiated by the top graft-buster.
Memon had fled the country in 2015 to Dubai after NAB launched a crackdown against corrupt political figures and bureaucrats as part of the Karachi operation.
Sharjeel Memon was arrested by NAB immediately after his plane landed from Dubai in Islamabad. However, the authorities released him after interrogation.