Ashiana Housing scam case: References against Shahbaz, Fawad Hassan approved

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) Wednesday observed that in Ashiana Housing fraud case, the accused could not be granted bail without listening to the investigating officer of National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The court further observed that apex court had already declared that in NAB cases chances for bail are already very thin. SC 3-member bench headed by Justice Sh Azmat Saeed was hearing the bail applications of the accused in Ashiana Housing case. NAB prosecutor appeared and submitted that preliminary reference against Punjab former chief minister Shahbaz Sharif and former principal secretary to Prime Minister Fawad Hassan Fawad have been completed and NAB chairman has also signed it. He further submitted that references will be submitted to the NAB court in a couple of days. LDA officer Bilal Qudwai and contractor Imtiaz Haider’s counsel submitted that in Punjab only lawyers were free while all the officials were behind the bars. He stated that Bilal Qudwai and Imtiaz Haider were arrested in March 2018. He submitted that no allegations against his clients were proved.

Justice Sh Azmat Saeed observed that Supreme Court had already decided that in NAB cases chances for bail are very thin.

Counsel for Munir Zia and Ali Sajjad Bhutta submitted that no reference was made against his client.

Justice Azmat observed that counsel was asking for bail on the ground that reference has not been made yet. “If this is the criteria for seeking bail, a murderer should be released,” he added. He further observed that no bail can be granted without hearing the NAB investigating officer and adjourned the hearing till end of court winter holidays.