ISLAMABAD:The Supreme Court on Thursday hearing a bail plea of Speaker Sindh Assembly Agha Siraj Durrani observed that everyone is equal before law.
A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Ayesha A Malik heard the bail application of Agha Siraj Durrani in a reference filed by the NAB for accumulating assets through illegal means.
During the course of the proceedings, Advocate Salman Akram Raja counsel for Agha Siraj Durrani said that Siraj Durrani belonged to a wealthy family and making assets was not a problem for him.
The NAB had accumulated Siraj Durrani’s income since 2007 as his client started filing tax returns from 2007, he said and added that failure to file tax returns did not mean zero income.
He said that Siraj Durrani and his family have inherited 900 acres of agricultural land since 1985.
Justice Ayesha asked how much money did Siraj Durrani earn from 1985 to 2008? Surprisingly, he (Siraj) continued to earn money until 2008 and immediately started spending, she noted.
She asked if Siraj Durrani had been collecting money then it would also be known how much he had collected and how much he had spent?
The counsel said that Siraj Durrani sold two four kanal houses in 1998.
Justice Ayesha said that nobody knew the value of the houses sold.
The counsel said that Siraj Durrani had several hundred grams of gold. Upon this the Chief Justice said that buying gold was not an investment as wealthy people buy gold for security of money.
He observed that apparently NAB case against Siraj Durrani was very strong. Siraj Durrani’s assets increased rapidly after becoming a member of the Assembly, he noted.
He said that declaring the house a jail meant that Siraj Durrani was very influential. The system of the country was such that it gave full facilities to the influential people, he added.
He said that even if Siraj Durrani was not granted bail, he was still at home. He asked what would the NAB gain from Siraj Durrani’s imprisonment?
He said that the NAB could freeze Durrani’s assets until the trial was completed and his name could also be placed in ECL. Trackers were installed on corruption suspects in the United States so that their movements could be monitored, he added.
Later, hearing of the case was adjourned till Friday.