LAHORE – The Lahore High Court (LHC) has extended the bail granted to former Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique and his brother Salman again on Monday
Justice Ali Baqir Najafi headed a two-member bench and extended the bail till December 5. The bail granted to Saad Rafique and his brother Salman expired today; the duo is facing a probe by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the Paragon housing society scam.
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Talking to media, Rafique, who defeated the PTI candidate in NA-131 by-election, slammed the ruling government’s 100-day agenda.
He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan-led government caused a hike in inflation, adding that they are deteriorating the country’s diplomatic ties with other states.
Terming the cases against him a political victimization, the member of the National Assembly said he will prefer to go to jail rather than remaining silent.
Saad Rafique, along with his brother, has appeared before NAB multiple times in the past. In his statements, Saad Rafique argued that he faces a threat of arrest by NAB claiming that he regularly appears before the anti-graft body.
An earlier request by the duo for a protective bail was rejected by the Islamabad High Court. In the petitions, 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.
Khawaja Saad Rafique won the by-elections for NA-131 constituency of Lahore by defeating Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Humayun Akhter Khan and in case he is arrested by NAB, the speaker of the National Assembly, Asad Qaiser reserves the right to issue production orders for him.
The same prerogative was used in case of Shehbaz Sharif, who was arrested in the Ashiana-i-Iqbal case.
