LHC judge recuses himself from Kh Asif case

LAHORE: A member of a Lahore High Court division bench on Tuesday recused himself from the post-arrest bail petition of former defence minister Khwaja Asif in an inquiry of assets beyond means and money laundering initiated against him by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

The petition came for hearing before the bench comprising Justice Alia Neelum and Justice Asjad Javed Ghural. However, Justice Ghural recused himself from the petition for personal reasons and the bench referred the case file to the LHC chief justice for its fixation before any other appropriate bench.

Asif’s counsel submitted in the bail petition the NAB had not been able to produce any evidence, which could prove owning assets disproportionate to Kh Asif’s known sources of income. He said mere ownership of a property does not constitute an offence under the NAB law. The counsel stated that the petitioner had already provided the NAB with an explanation of various sources of income, justifying the acquisition of the assets owned and possessed by him.

The NAB alleged that Kh Asif failed to explain sources of his income and assets. It said the suspect was first elected senator in 1991 when his assets were around Rs 5 million. It said the assets of the suspect swelled to Rs 221 million by 2018, which were beyond known sources of his income. The NAB had arrested him from Islamabad on December 29, 2020 and later shifted him to Lahore where he remained on physical remand till January 22, 2021.