KARACHI:Fearing of possible arrest by National Accountability Bureau (NAB), former finance minister and leader of Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N), Miftah Ismail and former managing director of Pakistan State Oil (PSO) Imranul Haq reached Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday for pre-arrest bail.
The SHC bench, headed by Justice Iqbal Kalhoro, granted the pre-arrest bail to Ismail and Haq till seven days against the surety of Rs0.5 million each.
The bench stopped the NAB officials from arresting Ismail and Haq and also directed both applicants to cooperate with NAB officials in investigation.
However, Ismail refused to leave the court room till getting written order of the bail. “The government is using fascist tactics against opponents. I will not leave the court room till receiving the written court order,” he said
As NAB Chairman Javed Iqbal signed arrest warrants of Miftah on Thursday and formed teams in Karachi and Islamabad to take the former finance minister into custody, the PML-N leader along with former MD PSO approached SHC and submitted an application seeking pre-arrest bail.
Ismail reached the courtroom after submitting the bail application. Later, the court approved their pleas.
The NAB teams on (Thursday) conducted raids at Ismail residences in Karachi and Islamabad for arrest of Ismail.
Talking to media outside the court, the PML-N leader said there was no need for NAB to carry out raids. He said he had received notices after 3:00 pm yesterday for appearing before NAB at 10:00 in the morning.
Whenever, the accountability bureau had summoned, he had appeared before it, he said.
Ismail also termed the arrest of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as unlawful, adding: “Pakistan has never seen a man as sincere as Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.”