LHC dismisses bail petitions of Khawaja brothers

NAB prosecutor says they are real owners of Paragon City scheme

LAHORE: A Lahore High Court (LHC) division bench on Tuesday dismissed bail petitions filed by former railways minister Khawaja Saad Rafique and his brother, former provincial health minister Khawaja Salman Rafique, in the Paragon City scam.

The bench, comprising Justices Ali Baqar Najafi and Sardar Ahmad Naeem, heard the post-arrest bail petitions. As proceedings resumed, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Prosecutor Chaudhry Khaliquz Zaman submitted that the Khawaja brothers were the real owners of the Paragon City scheme, whereas their business partner and Paragon City Director Qaisar Amin Butt had become an approver in the case.

He submitted that the bureau initiated an inquiry against the brothers on charges of assets accumulated beyond known means of income, but it was closed in 2007 after they won prize bonds. To this, Justice Najafi questioned how the prize bonds were related to the inquiry. The prosecutor explained that the Khawaja brothers had won Rs49 million through prize bonds; therefore, it could not be proved that they owned assets beyond known means of income.

He further argued that Paragon was an illegal society and it was temporarily approved by TMA, but the LDA rejected an application of Paragon. He alleged that people were defrauded as plots were sold on maps. Paragon initially comprised of 1,000 kanals of land, but it was illegally extended to 7,000 kanals, the prosecutor stated in response to a court query. The court asked that if Paragon City was an illegal society, what action was taken by the LDA? The prosecutor stated that one of the brothers was a railways minister and the other was provincial health minister. He questioned how the LDA could take action against such influential people, he questioned.

He pleaded with the court to dismiss the Khawaja brothers’ bail petitions. However, Khawaja brothers' counsel argued that his clients did not have any link with Paragon City, whereas Qaisar Amin Butt and Nadeem Zia were their friends, and not partners. He said that the statement of Butt was recorded twice and this was unprecedented. He said that the bureau rejected the statement of Butt and then got another statement recorded as per its choice. He said that the first statement was not in accordance with the wishes of NAB authorities; that was why the second statement was recorded. He said that his clients faced an assets inquiry for three years and it was not closed due to prize bonds. He pleaded with the bench to grant bail to his clients in the case. The bench, after hearing detailed arguments of the parties, reserved its verdict for a short period of time, but later rejected the bail petitions of the brothers.

The Khawaja brothers were arrested on Dec 11, 2018 after an LHC division dismissed their pre-arrest bail petitions and they were sent on judicial remand. The bureau had filed a reference against the Khawaja brothers, Nadeem Zia, Umar Zia, and Farhan Ali in an accountability court.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 19^th, 2019.