KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday granted bail before arrest to former Sindh chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah in a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) inquiry regarding abuse of power.

Qaim Ali Shah moved the SHC to seek bail before arrest fearing arrest in the inquiry.

The SHC granted him bail before arrest against surety bonds of Rs300,000 till February 23.

The court, after issuing notices to NAB seeking reply, directed Qaim Ali Shah to cooperate with NAB in the probe.

According to NAB, Qaim Ali Shah is accused of abusing his powers allotting government land while being Sindh CM.

The former chief minister is also facing charges of massive corruption in “Roshan Sindh Project” initiated by the provincial government for the installation of solar streetlights in Sindh.

Meanwhile, the SHC upheld on Friday the prison sentence of a former education director in an illegal appointments case.

An accountability court in Karachi had sentenced Mohammad Sajjan Mallah to nine years in prison for illegally regularizing the appointments of 104 teachers in Sindh.

He had challenged his sentence in the high court.

The NAB prosecutor told the court that a fine of Rs48 million had been imposed on the former director too.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021