KARACHI: A day after the acceptance of the resignation of Imran Ismail, jailed Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani assumed the office of the acting governor.

A spokesman for the Sindh Governor House said that Mr Durrani took charge of the office on Tuesday. “He held meetings with staff and other officials as well as people from different segments of the society on the first day in office,” he said.

Before assuming the charge, Speaker Durrani was under house arrest in connection with a corruption reference as his residence was declared as a sub-jail.

Also on Tuesday, an accountability court was informed that held Speaker Durrani enjoyed immunity from court appearances following his appointment as the acting governor of Sindh.

Accountability Court-IV Judge Suresh Kumar took up a case pertaining to accumulating assets worth Rs1.61 billion against the assembly speaker, his family members and others.

“However, the prison authorities failed to produce Agha Siraj Durrani in court,” his counsel, Amir Raza Naqvi told Dawn.

He added that an official notification of his appointment as acting governor of Sindh was also submitted in court, which was verbally informed that by default Mr Durrani enjoyed impunity from court appearances following his appointment as acting governor.

However, NAB’s special public prosecutor Dr Raja Muhammad Ali told Dawn that no formal application about appointment of Mr Durrani as acting Sindh governor was filed before the court.

The judge put off the hearing till May 10.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had arrested Mr Durrani on the premises of the Supreme Court in December 2021 after he surrendered on the apex court’s orders.

Earlier, he was first arrested by NAB in an Islamabad hotel on Feb 20, 2019 for investigation into his alleged movable and immovable assets beyond his known sources of income, making 352 illegal appointments, embezzlement of public funds in the construction of the MPA Hostel and the new Sindh Assembly building as well as the appointment of project directors for these schemes.

NAB had named Mr Durrani, his spouse, children, brother and others for possessing assets worth around Rs1.61bn made through illegal means.

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2022