Former information minister Sindh, Sharjeel Memon, appeared before the court of the judicial magistrate in a liquor case on Saturday. Alongside the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader, other people nominated in the case also turned up before the court. However, the lawyer representing Sharjeel and other co-accused persons skipped the hearing, giving his clients another chance to evade indictment.
The hearing of the case was adjourned till March 2. On the morning of September 1 last year, then Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar had paid a surprise visit to PPP leader Sharjeel Memon's room at the Ziauddin Hospital and found three bottles of liquor.
The chief justice's visit not only caught the former Sindh minister off guard but also spurred the police into action after discovery of the bottles of liquor from his hospital room.
Memon was then shifted to Central Jail, Karachi and three people, including a security guard, were arrested while CCTV footage and other evidence had also been collected from the room for investigation. On Oct 23, 2017, the former provincial information minister was taken into custody by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) after his bail plea was rejected in a corruption case pertaining to the award of advertisements at inflated rates by misusing his power.
Sharjeel was also indicted last year in February along with former information secretary of Sindh Zulfiqar Ali Shalwani and 13 others in the aforementioned corruption reference.