Ahad Cheema bailed in LDA case

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday granted post-arrest bail to former director general of Lahore Development Authority Ahad Khan Cheema in LDA City Housing Scheme case as the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) opted not to contest the bail.

The bench comprising Justice Tariq Abbasi and Justice Ch Mushtaq Ahmad allowed bail petition of Cheema in LDA-City case after NAB Prosecutor Faisal Bokhari told the court that the case had been closed as the affectees of the scheme had been assured of their plots. He said the National Accountability Bureau had no plan to file any reference in the case.

He said the bureau will not oppose if the petitioner was given bail in the case. Earlier, Cheema’s counsel Azam Nazir Tarar argued that over one-and-half years passed but the NAB failed to file reference.

He said the bureau initially arrested Cheema in Ashiana-Iqbal Housing Scheme case on February 21, 2018, exhausted 90-day physical remand and caused his arrest in illegal assets and LDA-City case. The counsel said no one had been implicated in the case except Cheema, which showed malafide of the NAB.

The bench adjourned hearing of Cheema’s petitions for bail in Ashiana and assets cases as the prosecutor said Additional Prosecutor Jahanzeb Bharwana will argue on behalf of the National Accountability Bureau. At first, the bench expressed dismay over the request and later adjourned hearing February 11.