KARACHI (HRNW)- A National Accountability Bureau (NAB) court in Karachi has rejected a petition filed by the Chairman NAB to withdraw the illegal assets reference against former Speaker of the Sindh Assembly, Agha Siraj Durrani, and other co-accused. The court ruled that the signatures on the Chairman’s application were inconsistent and noted that a copy of the Executive Board’s meeting minutes was not provided. The judge emphasized that the decision to terminate a case rests with the NAB Executive Board and cannot be made by the Chairman alone.
During the hearing, the court questioned the NAB prosecution regarding the legal grounds for closing a mega-corruption case simply due to the death of the primary accused. The court remarked that there is no law stating that legal proceedings against other suspects must end if one accused passes away, especially when witnesses have already been presented in the reference. The judge inquired why the trial should not proceed against the remaining 18 accused individuals if evidence and witnesses are available.
In response, the NAB prosecutor argued that the two main public office holders in the case, Agha Siraj Durrani and Zulfiqar Dahar, have passed away. He contended that the remaining accused were not public office holders and that sufficient evidence to prove their involvement independently was lacking. The prosecutor formally recorded a statement verifying the Chairman’s signature and maintained that since the reference no longer held legal weight, the bureau wished to withdraw it. Defense counsel supported this stance, stating that the prosecutors, as representatives of NAB, were competent to verify the institution’s intent.
The reference, filed in 2019, accused Agha Siraj Durrani, his family members, and associates of accumulating illegal assets worth over 1.61 billion PKR during his tenure as Minister for Local Government and Speaker of the Sindh Assembly. While the court had stayed proceedings against Durrani following his death on October 15, 2025, it has now refused to allow the entire reference to be scrapped, signaling that the law must take its course regarding the other suspects.
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