ISLAMABAD: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday extended the interim pre-arrest bail given to Pakistan Peoples Party MNA Jam Abdul Karim in the Nazim Jokhio murder case till April 11.
The bail will allowed the PPP MNA to take part in the voting on a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan in the National Assembly. A single judge bench headed by Justice Omar Sial directed the lawmaker to deposit a surety bond of Rs100,000. The counsel for the PPP lawmaker argued that the final charge sheet has not been filed before any court and is still being vetted at prosecutor general office.
Jam Abdul Karim returned to Pakistan in the early hours of Thursday from Dubai but Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) did not arrest him. A day earlier, Nazim Jokhio’s widow said she had pardoned all the suspects in the murder case including MNA Jam Karim and MPA Jam Awais. “My relatives left me alone, no one can understand my situation, I’m withdrawing from the case for the sake of my children,” Shireen Jokhio said in her statement.
Jam Abdul Karim landed in Pakistan after the court granted 10-day protective bail to PPP lawmaker till April 3. The FIA has put the name of PPP MNA Jam Abdul Karim on its Provincial National Identification List (PNIL) to stop him from leaving the country.
READ MORE: ‘Difficult to get justice’: Nazim Jokhio’s widow pardons killers
On March 25, a division bench of SHC had granted a 10-day protective bail to the lawmaker. The PPP lawmaker had fled to Dubai after he was named as a suspect in the case. Through his attorney, Jam Karim had moved the SHC to appear before the trial court. His lawyer had expressed the apprehension that the MNA might be arrested upon his return and sought protection.
A few days later, the counsel for MNA again approached the SHC for extension in his bail and also sought contempt proceedings against interior minister and others. However, the two-judge SHC bench headed by Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro had dismissed the plea.
Nazim Jokhio was found murdered at the Malir farmhouse of PPP MPA Jam Awais in November last year. The local journalist was tortured to death after he tried to prevent his foreign guests from hunting the houbara bustard. Police have detained MPA and four others as accused in a charge sheet and shown the MNA as an absconding suspect in the case.
