Illegal assets case: High court grants pre-arrest bail to former MNA’s nephews

Court seeks written comments from NAB chairman.


Our Correspondent February 09, 2015
The counsels added the PHC later upheld the verdict while hearing a NAB appeal against the accountability court’s decision. PHOTO: PPI

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Monday granted interim pre-arrest bail to two relatives of former MNA Haji Naseemur Rehman in an illegal assets case.

The pre-arrest bail was granted till February 26 by the division bench of justices Waqar Ahmad Seth and Musarrat Hilali. The judges also sought comments from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman in the case.

Asad Salim and Faisal Salim, nephews of Rehman, were charged in a corruption reference. Arshad Ali and Haziq Ali, counsels for the accused, told the bench that NAB filed a reference of corruption against Rehman and his relatives in 1997. They pointed out that an accountability court acquitted the suspects in the illegal possession of assets case on August 25, 2003.

The counsels added the PHC later upheld the verdict while hearing a NAB appeal against the accountability court’s decision. The bureau subsequently approached the Supreme Court against both decisions and the case was ultimately sent back to the accountability court.

Rehman had already obtained pre-arrest bail from PHC in the instant case. The court then granted interim pre-arrest bail to his two nephews till February 26 and sought written comments from the NAB chairman.

Naseemur Rehman was elected as an MNA from Mardan on an Awami National Party ticket in the 1997 general elections.

The accountability court later charged him with possessing a plot worth Rs1.36 million, which he got after becoming a lawmaker.

However, NAB insisted that the properties acquired by him between 1985 and 1999 should also be considered in the illegal assets case.

The apex court sent the case back to the accountability court with the observation that properties acquired between 1985 and 1999 should also be examined during the hearing.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 10th, 2015.

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