Former Punjab chief minister Usman Buzdar on Friday appeared before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in an assets beyond means case in Lahore. The former chief minister has got his pre-arrest bail from an accountability court. Earlier, Buzdar had failed to appear before the NAB on its call-up notices issued to him for Feb 22 and Feb 16.
The bureau’s Lahore office had issued notices to Buzdar to show up along with details of income tax and property tax. Separately, an accountability court in Lahore released the written interim order of the interim bail of Usman Buzdar.
The order was released by Judge Sheikh Sajjad Ahmad. The NAB prosecutor who opposed the bail plea submitted his reply to the court.
The prosecutor informed the court that Buzdar had not joined the NAB investigation so far. The court, however, directed the former chief minister to join the bureau’s investigation and asked the investigation officer to complete the inquiry as soon as possible.
The court also ordered the lawyers of both the parties to present their arguments on the case by March 7. Buzdar has already got interim bail to avoid arrest in the case.
The anti-graft watchdog has started an inquiry against the ex-CM on the charges of accumulating illegal wealth.