Chaudhry brothers were ‘empty-handed’ before joining politics, LHC told

NAB DG tells bench Shujaat has Rs2b, Elahi Rs6b worth of assets

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court (LHC) was apprised by the National Accountability Bureau director general on Thursday that PML-Q’s top leadership Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Chaudhry Pervez Elahi were empty-handed before joining politics but made assets worth billions of rupees after entering the political arena.

An LHC division bench, headed by Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan, heard different petitions filed the PML-Q leaders against the NAB chairman’s authority of reopening 20-year-old inquiries against them.

NAB DG Saleem Shehzad submitted a report, highlighting the business details of the PML-Q leaders before and after joining politics to establish how they made assets worth billions of rupees.

The DG apprised the bench that Shujaat obtained a Rs900,000 loan for starting politics while Elahi had a debt of Rs750,000 in 1985, the report further revealed.

In the previous proceedings, the NAB prosecutor had apprised the court that inquiries against “misuse of authority” and “willful default” had been closed while another inquiry against “assets beyond means” was in its final stage.

The report stated that Shujaat had no money to start politics in 1985 but now has assets worth over Rs2 billion, adding that similarly, Elahi also had no money in 1985 but now has assets worth over Rs6 billion.

“Elahi and his son, Moonis Elahi, received over Rs2billion through TTs (Telegraphic Transfer),” the NAB DG added.

During the proceedings, the bench also came down hard on the NAB DG for not properly assisting the court and especially over the conduct of some of the anti-graft watchdog’s officials, who were constantly whispering into his ears.

“It seems that the NAB DG once again is here without preparation. The bench may expel the investigation officer (IO) and the NAB DG from the courtroom if the practice of whispering is not stopped,” the bench intimated.

“Did you prepare the report,” the bench asked the NAB DG. “I have prepared this report,” the NAB DG replied.

However, he apprised the court that he was not appointed to the current post when the request was forwarded to close the reference.

“Did you personally start probing into this matter on October 19, 2017,” Justice Sadaqat asked. “The NAB chairman had ordered to start work on pending cases,” the NAB DG replied.

“The inquiry has been pending with Assistant Director Najam Abbas since 2015,” the NAB DG apprised the court.

He further informed the bench that the IO submitted an application before the regional board’s meeting on January 27, 2017, requesting closure of the inquiry. Later, the regional board forwarded the matter to the NAB chairman.

The Chaudhry brothers filed different petitions against three inquires them. In the pleas, they alleged that NAB was an institution involved in political engineering and raised questions over its authority. They stated that the courts had earlier ruled on NAB’s role and its “erroneous methods” of investigation.

Chaudhry brothers submitted that not an iota of evidence was found in investigations against them during the last 20 years.

Both the leaders observed that they were being politically victimised and requested the LHC to declare NAB’s move to reopen the 20-year-old case “illegal”.