KARACHI: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Tuesday in a reply to Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) former information minister Sharjeel Inam Memon’s disdain of a court petition against the agency stated that taking the former minister into custody outside the Sindh High Court (SHC) was within the bounds of the law.
Memon was arrested by a NAB team on October 23 after the SHC rejected his bail plea in a corruption case regarding the award of advertisements at ‘exorbitant rates’ through the abuse of his power as provincial information minister. The accused has been charged with the embezzlement of Rs 5,766,479,766.
In lieu of his plea, Memon used a courtroom as a hideout to avoid getting arrested, also giving his team time to consider their options.
NAB officials had also arrested 11 co-accused in the case.
The former minister had submitted a request before the court in November in which he had challenged a memorandum issued after his arrest which stated that Memon was arrested outside the SHC. Memon alleged that he was arrested within the court, which is a legal offence.
The NAB prosecutor who submitted the bureau’s reply to the trial court on Tuesday denied Memon’s claims.
“The arrest was made in line with the law after the suspect’s bail was rejected by the SHC, and after all suspects had left the court,” he said.
The written reply also states that a trial court does not hold the authority to deal with the issue even if the bureau was guilty of contempt against the SHC.