KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday extended interim pre-arrest bail granted to the provincial law minister Zia-ul-Hasan Lanjar in a case pertaining to misuse of powers and having assets beyond known income.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had initiated an inquiry against Lanjar over the charges of having assets beyond known income. Following the inquiry, the provincial law minister had approached the SHC and obtained interim pre-arrest bail.
In Friday’s hearing, Lanjar appeared before the court where the NAB prosecutor informed the judges that inquiry had been completed.
He said that recommendations were sent to the NAB high-ups to convert the inquiry against Lanjar into an investigation.
The court was informed that Lanjar also owned a bungalow in Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority area which he hid from the election commission of Pakistan before contesting the election. The NAB prosecutor sought more time to initiate the investigation against Lanjar.
On the other hand, the minister denied the charges, maintaining that he was never involved in corruption or misuse of powers. He termed the accusations as ‘baseless’ and ‘malafide’.
The two-judge bench put off hearing till June 21 and extended his interim pre-arrest bail till then.
