Reply sought on Fawad’sbail plea

LAHORE :The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday issued notice to the National Accountability Bureau on second post-arrest bail petition of former principal secretary to former prime minister, Fawad Hassan Fawad in assets beyond means case.

Fawad’s counsel Amjad Pervaiz in his arguments before a two-member bench of the high court headed by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, said that previously his client was denied bail in the same case on February 14 while he was granted bail in Ashiana Housing scheme case. He denied a charge of the NAB that he owned a plaza in Rawalpindi valued Rs5 billion and 14 “benami” bank accounts. He said the plaza being attributed to him was in fact owned by a company of his brothers and other family members.

He said the plaza was constructed with a bank loan and the FBR had its complete record since 1995. He said Fawad did not even own his personal home except the government residence. He said he was nearing retirement from his government job and the official home would also be returned back.

He said Mr Fawad had been behind the bars for the last 15 months while his health had also been deteriorating during the detention. The petitioner asked the court to release him on bail as the trial had not been completed in over 15 months.