PPP’s Agha Siraj Durrani surrenders to NAB

Sindh Assembly Speaker and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Agha Siraj Durrani has surrendered to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in a case pertaining to assets beyond known sources of income, Aaj News reported on Friday.

Earlier, a three-member bench of the Supreme Court (SC), headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial, took up Durrani's pre-arrest bail petition. The PPP's lawyer requested the top court to grant his client bail in the assets beyond means case, however, the SC rejected his application.

The SC bench directed the Sindh Assembly speaker to surrender before NAB.The speaker has been absconding, since the Sindh High Court (SHC) rejected Durrani's bail plea.

SHC rejects bail of Agha Siraj Durrani, seven others in assets beyond means case

In October, the Sindh High Court (SHC) had rejected Durrani's bail petition but had approved the bails of the speaker's wife and daughters.

On November 26, an accountability court had reissued warrants for the arrest of Durrani and 10 co-accused in a reference pertaining to his Rs1.61billion assets and alleged corruption.

The accountability watchdog had ordered an inquiry on charges of corruption against the Sindh Assembly speaker. The NAB prosecution named 20 persons including Durrani as accused in the reference filed in accountability court Karachi after an inquiry.

The accused were involved in corruption of up to Rs1.6 billion, NAB stated in the charge sheet. Following that the bureau arrested Durrani from a hotel in Islamabad in 2019.