Daily Times

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday extended the pre-arrest bail of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Manzoor Wassan till March 29 in the assets beyond income case. The high court conducted the hearing of Manzoor Wassan’s plea against the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) probe in assets beyond income case. The SHC judge questioned the NAB prosecutor about the progress of the investigation. The prosecutor apprised the court that the investigation is underway against the accused and the officials were seeking further guidance from the headquarters.

A summary was sent to NAB headquarters to take forward the probe against Wassan, said the prosecutor, adding that a reply will be submitted to the court after getting a response from the headquarters. The high court ordered the NAB prosecutor to submit a response in the next hearing. Later, the court extended the pre-arrest bail of Manzoor Wassan and adjourned the hearing.

The PPP leader is accused of making assets beyond his known sources of income and owns benami properties too, however, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had failed in filing reference against the PPP stalwart.

Separately, a bench of the Sindh High Court (SHC) stands dissolved after a judge recused himself from hearing plea against the probe initiated by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) over alleged corruption in National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD).

The SHC bench conducted the hearing of a petition against the FIA’s corruption probe against NICVD administration. Justice Abdul Mobeen Lakho recused himself from hearing the plea and asked the chief justice to transfer the case to another bench.

The hearing of the plea was adjourned till March 3, whereas, the high court ordered to retain the interim order in the case. It is pertinent to mention that the SHC issued notices to AG Sindh and Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) besides summoning the probe report from the inquiry officer of FIA. In the plea, the petitioner pleaded that NICVD is being administered by the provincial authorities, whereas, the probe initiated by FIA was illegal and it should be stopped. On the other hand, the FIA lawyer Dr Tariq Shaikh argued that NICVD is a federally administered hospital and a thorough investigation is necessary to curb the corruption. Earlier in December last year, the administration of the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) had moved to the Sindh High Court (SHC) after the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) initiated an investigation into corruption allegations.