Saad, Salman move court against arrest

LAHORE: Former railways minister Khawaja Saad Rafiq and his brother former provincial minister Khawaja Salman Rafiq on Monday challenged their arrest by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in Paragon City scam before the Lahore High Court.

They challenged their arrest through senior lawyer AK Dogar. The counsel through an application filed in an already pending petition against the arrest of Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif by the NAB in another housing scam.

The lawyer pleaded that the Supreme Court in a celebrated case “Khan Asfandyar Wali vs Federation of Pakistan-2001” had declared Section 24 (d) of the NAB Ordinance ultra vires of the Constitution within an observation that the clause denies the right of an accused to consult and be defended by a legal counsel of his/her choice. He stated that the apex court had also observed that the ordinance required to be suitably amended.

The lawyer contended that 17 years have passed, but the clause has not been amended despite a clear direction by the SC. He argued that the enunciation of the law by the apex court is applicable to the clause 24 of the ordinance. Therefore, he asked the court to declare the arrest of Khawaja brothers unlawful for being detained unconstitutionally and need to be released under Article 4 of the Constitution.