LAHORE: The National
Accountability Bureau (NAB) Lahore has approved filing of a reference against
former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, Jang Group Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakilur
Rahman and two others in a land case.
The approval to file
a reference against the four suspects in the 34-year-old case was given in a
meeting of the NAB regional board here on Wednesday with its Director General
Shahzad Saleem in the chair.
The other two
suspects are former Lahore Development Authority (LDA) director Humayun Faiz
Rasool and former director (land) Mian Bashir.
According to the
NAB, Mr Rahman was allotted 54 plots (each measuring one kanal) in H-block of
Johar Town Phase-II Lahore being the holder of general power of attorney on
behalf of Hidayat Ali and Hikmat Ali by the then Punjab chief minister Nawaz
Sharif in 1986 in violation of the relevant laws/rules.
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The suspects in
collusion with each other had also included two streets in the allotted land,
thus making the total allotted land to Mr Rahman 59 kanals. The land of common
passage (street) could not be sold to any person according to the law.
Mr Rahman prepared a
sale deed of the 54 plots in favour of his wife and children being the general
power of attorney holder of Hidayat Ali. “These plots were then transferred to
Mr Rahman by his wife and children. The land for which Mr Rahman obtained
general power of attorney was not located at one place in compact form, rather
it was located in the form of three pockets at different locations,” the bureau
stated.
In the reference,
Nawaz Sharif and the two LDA officers were accused of misuse of authority in
allotting the precious land along the canal to Mr Rahman in violation of the
rules. Under the LDA exemption policy, not more than 15 plots measuring one
kanal each could be exempted to Mr Rahman.
Since Nawaz did not
respond to any of NAB’s summons and questions, his arrest warrants had already
been issued and the bureau announced to have moved the accountability court to
declare him a proclaimed offender.
A source told Dawn
that the NAB had made 16 prosecution witnesses part of the reference to be
filed in the accountability court shortly after final approval from its
chairman, retired justice Javed Iqbal.
Mr Rahman has been
on judicial remand after being arrested by the NAB on March 12. He is in
hospital on medical grounds. He claimed that he had bought the land in question
from a private party and no illegality had been committed in this respect.
Former premier
Sharif had left for London in November after the Lahore High Court granted him
a four-week permission to go abroad for treatment. He had submitted an undertaking
to the court to return to Pakistan citing his record of facing the law and
justice within four weeks or as soon as he is declared healthy and fit to
travel by doctors. Mr Sharif was also given bail in the Al-Azizia Mills
corruption case in which he was serving a seven-year prison sentence in Kot
Lakhpat Jail.
According to Dr
Adnan Khan, personal physician of Mr Sharif, the former premier has been
diagnosed with “complicated coronary artery/ischemic heart disease with
significant disease burden. Cardiac perfusion scans scheduled”.
Maryam Nawaz
recently said her father was a high-risk patient therefore his cardiac
catheterisation/coronary intervention had been postponed owing to Covid-19.
Newspaper: Dawn
