The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday asked National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to submit comments on a petition moved by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Muhammad Asif seeking post-arrest bail.
An LHC division bench, headed by Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar, took up the bail petition in the assets beyond means and money laundering inquiry against Asif and sought para-wise comments from NAB by April 14.
After a preliminary hearing, the bench put off the hearing until April 14.
Asif through his counsel Barrister Haider Rasul Mirza filed the petition which stated that NAB had arrested him from Islamabad last year on December 29. He contended that the corruption watchdog apprehended him despite the fact that he had provided it all the relevant records regarding his assets. Besides, the same record is also available with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
He contended that during his 22-day physical remand with NAB, he was not confronted with any direct or circumstantial evidence that would construct a case of owning assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
The application, under section 24 (d) of NAO, filed by respondent Assistant Director NAB Muhammad Ikram, for seeking physical remand of the petitioner did not disclose any incriminating material supporting the alleged commission of a crime under section 9 (a) (v) of NAO.
“Mere ownership of property/assets did not constitute an offence under section 9 (a) (v). It is the failure to explain the source of funds that points towards the commission of the offence. The inquiry is being conducted on conjectures and surmises with a view to rope the petitioner into baseless and unfounded allegations,” claimed Asif in his petition. He pleaded with the bench to order his release on bail.
