Khursheed Shah, Faryal Talpur granted bail.

Byline: Malik Asad and Waseem Shamsi

ISLAMABAD/SUKKUR -- IncarAceraAted leaders of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah and Faryal Talpur were granted bail in two different cases on Tuesday.

A division bench of the Islamabad High Court comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Aamer Farooq granted post-arrest bail to Ms Talpur against surety bonds of Rs10 million in the fake bank accounts case.

An accountability court in Sukkur granted bail to Mr Shah against surety bonds of Rs5m in the assets-beyond-means case.

The IHC allowed Ms Talpur's bail after an investigation officer of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) could not give a plausible response as to why other influential accused in the fake accounts case, including directors of M/s Bahria Town, were not arrested.

'We are trying to arrest them, but we don't know about their whereabouts,' replied NAB investigation officer Mohammad Ali Abro.

The PPP leaders are facing fake bank accounts and assets-beyond-means cases

When the court asked how many accused were under arrest in this case, Mr Abro said that so far 11 accused had been arrested, but added that NAB could not arrest the directors of Bahria Town. He informed the court that investigation into the case had been concluded and a reference was pending before the accountability court of Islamabad.

When the court inquired about the transactions in Ms Talpur's account, the NAB investigation officer said she had received Rs30m from the account of M/s Zardari Group. He said the amount had been transferred to the group's account from a fictitious account.

'How could NAB conclude that the amount received was the same? Did you mark the money?' asked Justice Farooq.

Justice Minallah pointed out that those who were involved in Rs750m transactions through fake accounts were not arrested, adding that this was how NAB exercised power to arrest people. 'NAB does not have unfettered power of arrest,' he observed.

Earlier, when the court resumed hearing on Faryal Talpur's bail petition, no prosecutor was present in the courtroom. Subsequently, Justice Minallah put off the hearing till 2.30pm.

When the court resumed the hearing, NAB additional prosecutors general Jahanzeb Khan Bharwana and Nayyar Rizvi appeared before it. They argued...