Nawaz’s former principal secretary acquitted in assets case

Lahore accountability court accepts pleas of Fawad Hassan Fawad and others against NAB reference

An accountability court in Lahore on Thursday acquitted Fawad Hasan Fawad, former principal secretary to deposed premier Nawaz Sharif, and others in assets beyond means case, Express News reported.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in July 2018 arrested Fawad on charges of corruption in Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Scheme scam and three other projects.

The top anti-graft watchdog had accused Fawad of owning illegal assets worth billions of rupees.

During the hearing of the case today, the court accepted pleas of the accused and acquitted Fawad, his wife, brother and Dr Anjum Hassan in the case.

Fawad also served as secretary to former PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and was regarded as the most powerful bureaucrat during the last tenure of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government.

Also read: Nawaz Sharif's principal secy, his family indicted in assets beyond means case

In 2020, the Lahore High Court (LHC) granted bail to Fawad in the assets beyond means case.

The court had directed him to submit surety bonds worth Rs10 million to avail the bail.

An LHC division bench – comprising Justice Muhammad Tariq Abbasi and Justice Chaudhry Mushtaq Ahmad – heard the post-arrest bail petition filed by Fawad on January 21, 2020.

As the proceedings resumed, Fawad's counsel argued that the NAB arrested his client in 2018, but still he was not indicted in the case.

He submitted that it was claimed that at the time of arrest, Fawad owned assets worth billions of rupees, but only assets worth Rs108 million were mentioned in the NAB reference.