LDA housing scam: SC orders authorities to issue red warrants of absconders

Also seeks reports on accused on bail including Saad, Salman Rafique

LAHORE: The Supreme Court on Saturday ordered the authorities to issue red warrants of the accused absconding in a housing scheme scandal while also seeking a report on those who have obtained bails from lower courts.

A two-judge SC bench, headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar, issued the orders while hearing a suo motu case related to fraud in the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) housing scandal.

During the hearing, the court asked the LDA lawyer as to which companies were included in the joint venture with the LDA.  The court was told that the joint venture included five companies.

The lawyer told the bench that the companies were to provide the land while the LDA was to do development work.  The court asked National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Prosecutor Chaudhry Khaliquz Zaman as to which accused were on bail.

The court was told that the owners of one of the firms, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PNL-N) leaders Khawaja Saad Rafiqueand Salman Rafique, were on pre-arrest bail whose extension was to be deliberated on Tuesday.

The lawyer said the owner of one company was in NAB’s custody; however, most accused had fled abroad. The CJP asked if red warrants of the absconders had been issued.

The court was told that the process was under way. The CJP expressed anger over delay in the process and said the way the things were progressing it seemed that everyone involved would be spared.

He asked the LDA lawyer where all the money was spent. “Should we order the LDA to return all the money to the affected parties?”  The CJP also asked if former director general Ahad Cheema was also involved in the LDA city.

The lawyer told the court that some letters were issued when Cheema was serving on the post. The CJP later ordered that red warrants of the absconding accused be issued and a report about those who had obtained bails from lower courts be submitted. The hearing was adjourned till December 15.