Saad, Salman’s bail pleas deferred

LAHORE:The Lahore High Court on Thursday deferred the hearing of bail petitions of Khawaja Saad Rafique and his brother Salman Rafique and directed the NAB to conclude arguments on the next hearing.

A two-judge bench was hearing bail petitions filed by both brothers in Paragon housing scam case. As the hearing commenced, the court questioned the NAB prosecutor to provide evidences which could prove Khawaja brothers as the owners of Paragon City Housing project.

The NAB prosecutor answered that Qaiser Amin and others had given statements that Khawaja Saad Rafique and Khawaja Salman Rafique were the owners of the housing project. He added that Khawaja brothers had claimed for receiving money against the services rendered for marketing purposes but failed to provide evidence, whereas, legal procedures were not completed for the exchange of land in the case. The court inquired for details of Khawajas’ profession which was mentioned in their nomination papers at the time of the election. The NAB lawyer replied, “They have mentioned marketing company in their nomination papers.” The judge asked, “You should tell us about the evidences which were collected.” “It seems that you don’t have any of your own content,” said the judge.

NAB lawyer said, “We have presented Khawaja Saad Rafique’s answers to the investigators as evidence. Saad Rafique had not answered to the questions pertaining to the selling of the land and plots.”

He added that a huge amount of money was being transferred to bank accounts but no clue was present for its transmitter. The lawyer said Khawaja brothers had managed to conceal all records relating to the case. The judge remarked, “Was this objection raised before the trial court that the accused were not cooperating in the investigation? You must raise a point in the court which could be proven.” The court ordered NAB lawyers to complete their arguments on the next hearing on May 24.

In another development, an accountability court extended judicial remand of Saad Rafique and his brother Salman Rafique in Paragon Housing Society scam case. The incarcerated Khawaja brothers were produced before the accountability judge on completion of their previous 14-day judicial remand.