KARACHI:An Accountability Court (AC) Monday reserved a verdict whether reference against Agha Siraj Durrani is maintainable or non-maintainable, and it will announce the verdict on 1st July.
The court was hearing a reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against Sindh Assembly Speaker Durrani about his assets beyond known sources of income. Durrani was produced before the court amid tight security.
The counsel of Durrani argued in the court that reference against his client is non-maintainable. He said that Durrani’s assets were not illegal because his family owned properties from several generations. Durrani also owns rice and sugar mills.
He argued that his client’s source of income had not been mentioned in the reference. “Neither ice factory, rice factory nor his father’s land is being mentioned,” he said. The counsel submitted documents in the court related to the land of Durrani.
The counsel further argued that the NAB had not sent call-up notice to the speak as per the law’s section 90 of NAB ordinance, which says that issuing call-up notice is necessary.
He said a questionnaire was sent, when inquiries initiated against Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari. “NAB did not conducted any investigation after the arrest of Durrani neither he is given questionnaire.”
The NAB had recently filed reference pertaining to assets beyond means of income against Durrani and others.
The NAB had included 20 names including Agha Siraj, his wife, son, daughters and employers as accused in the reference filed in an accountability court in Karachi after an inquiry, which continued for three months and 10 days. However, Durrani has been in jail on judicial remand.
According to the NAB charge-sheet, the accused were involved in corruption of upto Rs 1.6 billion.
The NAB executive board had approved filing of a reference against Durrani in an assets beyond means case.
The NAB Karachi team had arrested Speaker Sindh Assembly Agha Siraj Durrani from a hotel in Islamabad in February this year.