KARACHI: The Supreme Court rejected the bail application of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Sharjeel Inam Memon and two others on Tuesday.
On November 25, the PPP leader had filed an appeal in the apex court, challenging the Sindh High Court’s decision to reject his bail in a reference pertaining to the award of advertisements at ‘exorbitant rates’ through the abuse of his power.
In his appeal, Memon had said that he should be granted bail since the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) does not have any evidence against him, adding that his arrest was in contradiction with accountability laws.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday also rejected the bail applications of Inam Akbar, the owner of a private advertising firm, and a director of the Sindh government.
A team from NAB had taken Memon into custody on Oct 23 after the SHC had rejected his bail plea in a corruption case.
Following the rejection of his bail plea, Memon had holed up for hours in a courtroom to avoid arrest as his team explored their options, but could not stave off the inevitable for long.
As soon as Memon exited the building, surrounded in a tight cordon by his lawyers and supporters, he was nabbed by representatives of the accountability bureau and whisked away.
In a previous hearing of the case, NAB had said that it investigated corruption and corrupt practices in the award of advertisements against the law and at exorbitant rates to TV channels and FM radio stations for various awareness campaigns between July 2013 and June 2015. It said it had found that the accused acted with the connivance of each other, resulting in losses to the national exchequer.
The PPP leader is also facing a separate reference regarding illegal adjustment and consolidation of hundreds of acres of land in favour of a private housing project.
