ISLAMABAD: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday granted PML-N leader Miftah Ismail seven-day protective bail, a day after National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Javed Iqbal signed his arrest warrants and dispatched teams in Karachi and Islamabad to take the former finance minister into custody.
The same day, an accountability court in Islamabad granted NAB 13-day physical remand of former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who was arrested on Thursday by a 12-member NAB team in the LNG (liquefied natural gas) import contract case.
Earlier on Friday, Ismail submitted a bail application at the SHC, a copy of which was received by Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro’s staff.
Advocate Haider Waheed, who appeared as Ismail’s counsel, said that the case was based in Islamabad and requested protective bail so that the PML-N leader could contact the relevant court.
While accepting his application for bail, the SHC also asked Ismail to submit surety of Rs500,000.
In an informal conversation with media, the PML-N leader said there was no need for NAB to conduct raids, adding that he had received notices after 3pm yesterday. He said whenever the accountability bureau had summoned him, he had appeared before it.
A NAB team was also at the SHC premises today, where Ismail and former managing director of Pakistan State Oil Sheikh Imranul Haque, for whom arrest warrants were also issued, appeared.
