Sharjeel Memon, 11 others indicted in graft case

KARACHI: An accountability court on Thursday indicted former Sindh information minister Sharjeel Memon and 11 others in a corruption case pertaining to abuse of power in order to award of advertisements at inflated rates.

The indicted pleaded not guilty to the charges of corruption. No media and non-essential personnel were allowed inside the courtroom where the hearing was conducted.

Asim Sikandar, Riaz Muneer, Inam Akbar and Muhammad Hanif, four of the men indicted in the case, raised questions on the indictment via an application.

According to them, they should have been provided with some documents under the law, but were not.

The hearing was adjourned until March 3, when the court will start hearing witness testimonies in the case.

On February 3, the hearing of the graft reference against Memon was adjourned by the accountability court till February 15 owing to the absence of the accountability judge.

According to reports, police produced Sharjeel Memon and other accused in the court as it was to resume their trial in the case pertaining to the corruption of Rs 5.76 billion in the provincial information department, however, the hearing was postponed to a later date.

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.