Daily Times

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court has extended bail granted to former secretary excise secretary Badir Jameel Mandhro till July 20 in a case related to illegal appointments in the provincial minorities affairs department.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar expressed displeasure over the absence of the applicant and directed him to turn up before the next hearing on July 20.

Mandhro, who had been secretary minorities affairs department, is facing a National Accountability Bureau (NAB)’s reference for making illegal appointments in the minorities affairs department in 2012.

Earlier, the bench had NAB to submit its response to a petition filed by former secretary challenging its authority to investigate the cases involving an amount less than Rs 100 million.

Badar Jameel Mandhro, who is facing a graft case related to illegal appointments and corruption in the minorities affairs department, petitioned the high court questioning the NAB’s powers to investigate the cases involving an amount of less than Rs 100 million.

In the petition, he contended that the Supreme Court had held that the NAB had jurisdiction to investigate the corruption cases involving an amount more than Rs100m. However, he said, NAB was investigating the cases involving a small amount.

The superior court had observed that NAB had usurped the jurisdiction of the Federal Investigation Agency and anti-corruption establishment, thus damaging the objective of the NAB Ordinance 1999, he added

The petitioner’s counsel argued that the NAB had no jurisdiction to investigate the cases against him as it involved an amount less than the set limit and requested the court to order the transfer of the cases pending against them to anti-corruption establishment, Sindh.

Earlier on June 8, the SHC bench had granted post-arrest bail to Mandhro against a surety of Rs1 million in a case relating to illegal appointments and corruption in the provincial minorities affairs department.

Published in Daily Times, July 5^th , 2017.