LAHORE – The Lahore High Court has granted interim bail to embattled former railway minister, Khawaja Saad Rafique, in a major relief to the politician who recently won the by-elections.
Rafique and his brother Salman Rafique had petitioned the court, arguing that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) could arrest them illegally.
The Lahore High Court on Monday ordered the anti-corruption body not to arrest the Khawaja brothers, ordering the elder one to submit surety bond worth 0.5 million rupees; it also issued a notice to NAB, seeking a reply by October 18th.
‘We are fully cooperating with the accountability watchdog,’ pleaded the duo.
The counsel for the firebrand PML-N leader informed the court that NAB summons individuals for inquiry but later arrests them.
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During the hearing, Justice Ali Baqir Najafi inquired about the case against Saad Rafique to which his counsel Amjad Pervaiz replied that the NAB was investigating the Paragon Housing Society.
Khawaja Saad Rafique won the by-elections for NA-131 constituency of Lahore by defeating Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Humayun Akhter Khan.
An earlier request by the duo for a protective bail was rejected by the Islamabad High Court.
In the petitions filed through their counsel Amjad Pervaiz and Kamran Murtaza, the duo expressed apprehensions about their arrest at the hands of NAB.
They named the NAB chairman and Lahore director general as respondents in the petition.
Citing the recent arrest of former chief minister Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif, the ex-railways minister said the NAB chairman and officials subordinate to him were acting like an agent of the present regime.
