I am used to jail, says Sindh Assembly speaker

• facebook

Commenting on a question asked by a journalist at accountability courts on Saturday, the Sindh Assembly speaker said that he had become content with the environment in jails because he had been there on and off over the past 30 years.A journalist asked him for his views on Prime Minister Imran Khan’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly, to which he declined answering saying, “I am in jail and there’s no news in jail about it.”He kept on saying: “I sleep on the floor and have been to almost all places good and bad [in jail]. Those who are new to jail would not know what jail is. I have been coming here for the past 30 years. And now I am used to it.”Durrani was brought to the courts for his hearing in a corruption reference filed against him and his family members by the National Accountability Bureau. The hearing, however, was adjourned till October 12 as the judge was on leave.NAB has filed a reference against Durrani, his family and some private persons for possessing assets worth around Rs1.6 billion allegedly made through illegal means.The anti-graft watchdog maintained that Durrani could not account for a difference of Rs1,610,669,528 between his declared total income from 1985 to 2018 and the assets in his family, dependants and benamidar names.It accused a total of 19 people, including his wife Naheed, son Shahbaz, daughters Sanam, Sonya, Shahana and Sara, brother Agha Masihuddin, Zulfiqar Dahar, Shamshad Khatoon, Munawar Ali, Ghulam Murtaza, Muhammad Ifran, Shakeel Soomro, Gulbahar Baloch, Aslam Langah, Tufail Shah, Mitha Khan, Muhammad Shah and Gulzar Ahmed, of colluding in the alleged corruption.It said that Durrani after becoming Sindh local bodies minister and then the speaker accumulated assets and pecuniary resources through illegal means and in connivance with the others named in the reference.Durrani was arrested by NAB in February from a hotel in Islamabad. He is currently under judicial custody and his office at the Sindh Assembly has been declared sub-jail.Jail to PAA day earlier, Speaker Agha Siraj Khan Durrani adjourned the session without any formal proceedings taking place during the day due to a lack of quorum.Talking to journalists, he said that he had reached the premises of the provincial legislature from jail despite the heavy rain in the city, but other lawmakers did not turn up for the session.The speaker said in a lighter mood that had he been a free man, he would have taken along with him newsmen to go somewhere outside to enjoy the pleasant weather in the city.The speaker, who has been imprisoned since long in connection with accountability references pending against him, reached the premises of the Sindh Assembly in an armoured vehicle amid heavy rain in the city.To a question, he refused to comment on the ongoing foreign visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan, saying that he would do the commentary after securing back his freedom.

from The News International - Karachi https://ift.tt/2og8Lfh
The News International - Karachi