The Islamabad Excessive Courtroom on Thursday turned down petitions filed by senior PML-N chief Khawaja Saad Rafique and his brother Salman Rafique in search of protecting bail and authorized safety in opposition to alleged harassment by the Nationwide Accountability Bureau (NAB).
A two-judge bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani had taken up the petitions during which the 2 brothers expressed apprehensions about their arrest by the hands of NAB.
Saad and Salman had appeared within the courtroom for the listening to, however left earlier than the decision on the petitions was introduced.
The counsel for Saad knowledgeable the bench that the previous minister had been served call-up notices concerning inquiries into totally different circumstances. He requested the courtroom to grant a 15-day protecting bail to his consumer, citing the by-polls scheduled for October 14 in Saad’s constituency.
However the bench questioned why the PML-N chief had not approached the Lahore Excessive Courtroom, which was the suitable discussion board for him (Saad), to hunt protecting bail.
“We’re not answerable for the [by-] elections,” Justice Farooq instructed the counsel, observing that Saad had addressed a press convention in Lahore on Wednesday earlier than he reached Islamabad.
The lawyer argued that they discovered about NAB’s newest call-up discover after reaching Islamabad from Lahore.
At this, the justices reminded the counsel that the LHC’s Rawalpindi bench was solely 45 minutes away from the IHC.
However the lawyer expressed the worry that his consumer can be arrested if returns to Lahore for the time being. “We’ve got reached right here after lots of problem,” he added.
He urged that the ex-minister will strategy LHC as soon as he has been granted protecting bail by the IHC.
“Do you need to go there on foot or a bicycle that you’re asking for thus many days [in pre-arrest bail]?” the bench requested, earlier than rejecting the petitions filed by the 2 brothers.
The petitions
Within the petitions filed by way of their counsel Amjad Pervaiz and Kamran Murtaza, Saad and Salman had named the NAB chairman and Lahore director basic as respondents.
Citing the latest arrest of Chief of the Opposition within the Nationwide Meeting Shahbaz Sharif, the ex-railways minister mentioned the NAB chairman and officers subordinate to him have been appearing like an agent of the current regime. “The bureau is abusing the method of legislation for political victimisation,” mentioned Salman.
Saad mentioned he had been scrutinised by NAB a number of instances. His petition learn: “Within the post-coup 1999 period, an inquiry was authorised in opposition to him [Saad Rafique] beneath NAB Ordinance 1999, throughout which his total profession was probed into at size. But, NAB couldn’t discover any wrongdoing in opposition to him.”
However immense stress by the then army dictator, the petition added, the inquiry was closed and the inconvenience induced was regretted by NAB after probing the matter for 3 years.
Earlier than the July 25, 2018 polls, it acknowledged, the petitioner was served with call-up discover on March 20, 2018, with regards to an inquiry in opposition to administration/evelopers of Paragon Metropolis Personal Restricted, and others. In compliance, the petition added, the requisite data and paperwork have been submitted together with a written reply on March 28.
The counsel mentioned that Saad additionally appeared in individual earlier than a mixed investigation crew on the identical date and prolonged full cooperation and divulged no matter data was inside his data. The petition mentioned that the specific stand of the petitioner was that he had neither been director nor a shareholder of Paragon Metropolis Personal Restricted or ever had any say in its affairs.
Below the garb of the inquiry, the petition added, Saad was interrogated concerning enterprise revenue within the title of M/s Saadain Affiliate which he had been duly declaring in his revenue tax returns/wealth assertion recurrently.
It revealed that the petitioner was once more served with a call-up discover on June 25 with regards to an inquiry in opposition to officers/administration of the Punjab Land Growth Firm, though he had by no means had any concern with the mentioned matter.
The petitions requested the courtroom to direct the NAB chairman to intimate them about circumstances pending inquiry or investigation and grant them two weeks time in case of issuance of warrants of arrest to allow them to strategy the courtroom of competent jurisdiction for bail in accordance with legislation.