ISLAMABAD: Former Sindh information minister Sharjeel Inam Memon severely criticised the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for only targeting Sindh lawmakers.
While addressing a press conference on Sunday, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader said that he had returned to Pakistan to face all the pending cases against him.
“Putting my name in the Exit Control List (ECL) was an attempt to defame me as no government institution had informed me prior to its issuance and no investigation was initiated against me,” said Memon.
“I was never given a notice. I was never called. There was no case, neither an FIR nor an inquiry,” Memon said, adding that he had approached the high court to find out why his name was put on the ECL.
Memon claimed that putting someone’s name on the ECL without issuing any prior notice to them was an extreme step. He concluded his almost two years long self-imposed exile and returned to Pakistan on Saturday.
He was arrested at Islamabad airport and taken to NAB headquarters, where he was later released after verification of his bail before arrest orders and written undertaking from his lawyer that he will comply with authority’s orders.
The former provincial minister is facing several charges of monetary misappropriation and corruption. The NAB chairman had filed a reference against Memon in connection with alleged misconduct in payments regarding advertising campaigns.
Memon rebuffed the accusations levelled against him, saying he had never fled from the country. The former minister claimed that the references on the charges of corruption were filed against him months after he had left the country over medical grounds.