Observer Report Lahore
NAB seizes properties of Nawaz Sharif in Pakistan
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Tuesday revealed that it has seized all properties of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in Pakistan, in the illegal plot allotment case which also involves Jang/Geo Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil ur Rehman.
The anti-graft body’s investigation officer, Abid Hussain, informed the court that earlier orders have been executed in the case and the property has been seized.
The court also fixed January 28 for Rehman’s indictment and summoned co-accused former Lahore Development Authority director-general Humayun Faiz Rasool at the next hearing.
The court had found Rehman, Nawaz, Rasool and another co-accused Bashir Ahmed guilty. According to the anti-corruption watchdog, Rehman had illegally acquired 54 plots, each measuring one Kanal, at Canal Bank in H-Block of Lahore’s Johar Town in 1986 in connivance with then Punjab chief minister Nawaz Sharif.
Under the LDA rules, the exemption could be granted for 15 plots only. However, 54 plots were exempted in a single block on Nawaz’s approval.
Meanwhile, Shahbaz Sharif’s wife Nusrat Shehbaz has moved the Lahore High Court to challenge the issuance of arrest warrants by the accountability court besides rejecting her plea for a permanent exemption from a court appearance in money laundering case.
Nusrat Shehbaz challenged the accountability court’s verdict in the Lahore High Court in which she stated that the petition was filed to nullify the ruling for rejection of her exemption plea and issuance of arrest warrants.
It may be noted here that the National Accountability Bureau had filed a corruption reference against Shehbaz Sharif’s family members.
She stated in her petition that the National Accountability Bureau court had rejected both of her pleas. Nusrat Shehbaz added that she was residing in a foreign country for medical treatment for a long time prior to the approval of the NAB’s investigation and filing of the reference.
