SHC grants Sharjeel Memon bail in corruption case

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday granted former Sindh information minister Sharjeel Memon bail in Rs5.76 billion corruption case and ordered his name be placed on the Exit Control List (ECL).

The court had reserved its verdict in the previous hearing in a bail plea filed by Memon. 

During today's hearing, the court ordered Memon to submit Rs5 million as surety bond and ordered that his name be placed on the no-fly list.

On October 2017, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had apprehended Memon after the SHC rejected his bail.

The case

Memon along with 12 others is accused of corruption worth Rs5.76 billion in the award of advertisements of the Sindh government’s awareness campaigns in the electronic media.

"The accused persons jointly and severally in connivance with each other have been alleged for awarding the contracts to favour certain advertising agencies and to their own favour, in violation of relevant laws and rules and against exorbitant rates," according to NAB.

Memon, who returned to Pakistan in March 2017 after ending his near two-year-long self-imposed exile, was arrested on his arrival by NAB but later obtained bail.

The other accused in the case include bureaucrats, officials of the information department and members of private advertising agencies.

Memon claims the charges against him are politically motivated.