KARACHI: The Sindh High Court has granted two-week protective bail to former federal minister Babar Ghauri in a corruption reference and a money laundering & terror financing case.

The former shipping minister, who is returning to Pakistan after almost seven years, through his attorney moved the SHC and submitted that he was presently abroad and willing to come back and surrender before trial courts.

While referring to ticket reservation, the lawyer for petitioner argued that Mr Ghauri was scheduled to return home on Thursday, and pleaded for protective/transitory bail.

Without touching merits of the cases, a division bench of the high court granted him protective bail for 14 days against a surety bond of Rs100,000 in each case and directed him to surrender before the trial courts on or before July 5.

The former shipping minister, along with MQM founder and other party leaders, had been booked by the Federal Investigation Agency in 2017 in a money laundering and terror financing case.

The National Accountability Bureau had also filed a reference before an accountability court in 2018 against the petitioner and others for alleged illegal regularisation of 940 employees of the Karachi Port Trust causing losses to the tune of Rs2.8 billion to the national exchequer.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2022

Must Read

Ukraine, Nato and the future of Europe

Ukraine, Nato and the future of Europe

The spectacle of the verbal spat between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Vlodomyr Zelensky in the Oval Office was stark evidence of a tectonic shift in longstanding US foreign policy on Ukraine, Russia, Europe and Nato.

Opinion

Editorial

After the review
Updated 16 Mar, 2025

After the review

Should prepare economy for durable growth by attracting foreign private investments to boost productivity and exports.
Embracing crypto
16 Mar, 2025

Embracing crypto

IT seems a little prod was all it took for Pakistan to finally ‘embrace the future’. The Pakistan Crypto Council...
Fault lines
16 Mar, 2025

Fault lines

IT was a distressing spectacle, though a sadly predictable one. As the National Assembly took up for discussion the...
Revised solar policy
Updated 15 Mar, 2025

Revised solar policy

Criticism policy revisions misplaced as these will increase payback periods for consumers with oversized solar systems.
Toxic prejudice
15 Mar, 2025

Toxic prejudice

WITH far-right movements on the march across the world, it is no surprise that anti-Muslim bias is witnessing high...
Children in jails
15 Mar, 2025

Children in jails

PAKISTAN’S children in prison have often been treated like adult criminals. The Sindh government’s programme to...