Saad, Salman’s bails extended till 26th

LAHORE: A two-judge bench headed by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi of Lahore High Court on Tuesday extended till November 26 the interim bails of PML-N former ministers Khawaja Saad Rafique and his brother Salman Rafique in the Paragon Housing Society scam.

The court also sought a report from NAB on a fresh application for transferring the inquiry from the Lahore NAB DG to another impartial officer. The counsel for the Khawaja brothers pleaded the court that NAB DG Saleem Shehzad had become a party against the PML-N camp and violated the code of conduct by revealing the inside stories of the inquiries on the TV channels. He questioned the impartiality of the NAB DG and said no fair inquiry could be even thought of during the presence of the NAB DG whose role has been exposed on different media channels.

At this, the court remarked they will send the matter to the NAB chairman who would proceed in accordance with law. The counsel prayed to the court to seek reply from NAB rather than sending the matter to the NAB chairman. Upon which, a NAB prosecutor said the NAB would submit reply if the court asked it to do so. The court then asked the NAB prosecutor to tell under what sections the court could transfer a NAB’s inquiry.

Meanwhile, several PML-N workers assembled at the LHC to welcome their leaders. They also chanted slogans in favour of their leaders. Talking to the media, Khawaja Saad Rafique said the PTI is using NAB as tool for political victimisation of the PML-N leaders rather than contributing to the public welfare. “We are not afraid of going to jail. The NAB DG is making propaganda on TV channels and they have the right to speak when the code of conduct will be violated”, he said.

On Nov 13, PML-N firebrand Khawaja Saad Rafiq and his brother Khawaja Salman Rafiq sought transfer of the NAB inquiries initiated against them on the plea that the Lahore NAB DG had become party against the PML-N camp and violated the code of conduct by revealing the inside stories of inquiries on TV channels. They prayed the court to transfer the inquiries from the NAB DG to another impartial officer. They prayed to the court to direct the NAB chairman to initiate disciplinary proceedings against the DG for violating the code of conduct.

In their protective bails, the PML-N leaders had contended that they provided relevant documents to NAB and they were cooperating with it but even then they feared that they would be arrested as soon as they appeared before the the NAB officials. They implored that NAB has adopted a practice of summoning people for a specific inquiry but arrested them in some other case as happened in case of Shahbaz Sharif. The LHC had granted interim bail to both on October 15 after the National Accountability Bureau had initiated a corruption probe against them.