Khawaja brothers’ remand extended

The NAB prosecutor says the bureau has filed a reference against the accused after approval from the officials

LAHORE: An accountability court on Thursday extended the judicial remand of former railways minister Khawaja Saad Rafique and his brother former provincial minister Khawaja Salman Rafique in the Paragon City scam till July 11. Accountability Court Judge Syed Jawadul Hassan conducted the proceedings wherein the jail officials produced Khawaja Salman Rafique. In response to a query, the court was told that the National Assembly speaker had issued production orders for Saad and he was in Islamabad to attend the session. The NAB prosecutor stated that the bureau had filed a reference against the accused after approval from the authorities concerned. At this, the court observed that Saad and others were not present, therefore, the reference copies would be distributed at the next hearing. The court expressed serious displeasure after it was told that the report regarding the arrest of accused Nadeem Zia, Umar Zia and Farhan Ali had not been filed yet. The court directed the investigation officer to file the report by the next hearing, observing that it issued their arrest warrants on June 3.  

Published in The Express Tribune, June 28^th, 2019.