LHC extends bail of Saad, brother till Dec 5

Orders NAB to decide on PML-N leaders’ plea to transfer inquiries from Lahore

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday extended the interim pre-arrest bails of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Saad Rafique and his brother Khawaja Salman Rafique till December 5, restraining the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from arresting them.

A two-judge bench, headed by Justice Tariq Abbasi, also asked the NAB chairman to take a decision on an application of the brothers seeking transfer of the inquiries pending against them from Lahore.

Earlier, their counsel argued that Lahore NAB Director General Shahzad Saleem had lost his credibility as he had given controversial interviews against the PML-N leaders to various television channels.

He said the application for transfer of the inquiries against his clients was pending before the NAB chairman. The lawyer requested the bench to order transfer of the inquiries to a competent officer in any other region.

The NAB prosecutor told the bench that the chairman was likely to decide about the application in three days. The bench expressed its dismay when the prosecutor said the Rafique brothers had not been informed about the reasons for their likely arrest. He said such details would be provided at the time of arrest.

The bench allowed extension of pre-arrest interim bails for the brothers till December 5 and asked the NAB chairman to take a decision at the earliest on their application for transfer of inquiries.

NAB has initiated an inquiry against the Rafique brothers in the Paragon City scam. Saad Rafique is also facing NAB inquiries in connection with railways and Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing scheme scandals.

Talking to the media, he said NAB had failed to produce any evidence against them. He alleged that Prime Minister Imran Khan was personally monitoring the case.

“Such vindictive actions are not new for the PML-N. [The PML-N President] Shehbaz Sharif has also been subjected to political victimisation. Imran Khan has introduced a culture of hate,” he alleged.

Commenting on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government’s 100-day plan, the former railways minister said it had given nothing to the people except burdening them with foreign loans and inflation.

The LHC also issued notice to NAB on a petition filed by a daughter of former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, challenging the arrest of her husband in the Eden Housing Scheme case.