The National Accountability Bureau on Friday arrested Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani for owning assets beyond known means of income after his surrender on the orders of the Supreme Court.

A three-member Supreme Court bench, which was presided over by Justice Umar Ata Bandial, also rejected Durrani’s appeal for bail and surrender to a trial court.

Durrani remained in the premises of the SC for almost four hours, waiting for the apex court order. Upon his exit from the court after getting a written order, the NAB Rawalpindi team arrested him that was present outside the court.

The anti-graft body will present the Sindh Assembly speaker before an accountability court and seek one-day remand of him.

At the outset of the hearing, Justice Bandial rejected Durrani’s lawyer request for surrendering to a trial court and ordered him to first adhere to the Sindh High Court orders.

Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, in his remarks, said the court would admit the Sindh Assembly speaker’s bail petition after his surrender to the anti-corruption watchdog.

Upon this, his lawyer responded that his client was willing to surrender and prayed the court to allow Durrani to surrender to the trial court. “The court does not accept such [a way of] surrender,” Justice Shah said.

The judge ordered Durrani to surrender to NAB. “You should have been in jail when the high court rejected your bail application. Why didn’t Agha Siraj Durrani surrender to NAB? Why should we give you special treatment,” Justice Shah asked the lawyer.

The apex court adjourned the proceedings of the case till next week after rejecting the Sindh Assembly’s application for surrendering to the trial court, while Durrani was taken into custody from outside the court.

Talking to reporters, Durrani said: “We follow the law. Our [PPP] leadership has taught us obedience to the law. We came here from the high court to get relief and we have always followed court orders. It's not the first time that I have come to the court.”