LAHORE – An accountability court on Wednesday approved an extension in physical remand of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif till December 6 in the Ashiana housing scheme scam case.
Accountability court judge Najamul Hassan issued the order after hearing the arguments submitted by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Prosecutor Waris Ali and Sharif’s counsel. The court has sent the accused on nine-day remand.
The accused has been in NAB’s custody since October 5 in connection to the Ashiana Iqbal Housing Scheme case in which Rs 14 billion were allegedly embezzled.
The former Punjab chief minister was brought to the court by NAB officials amid tight security earlier today.
During the hearing, NAB prosecutor requested the court to extend the remand of the former Punjab chief minister for further interrogation.
Ali argued that investigation could not be conducted during this period, to which, Sharif replied that he has been interrogated during the remand.
The prosecutor informed the court that the PML-N president was given a questionnaire pertaining to the suspicious transactions, adding that the suspect has submitted his reply yesterday.
The NAB claimed that the former CM had given gifts worth Rs600 million to his family members in 2012.
An investigation officer also informed the court that another inquiry pertaining to possessing the assets beyond means is also being carried out against Shehbaz Sharif.
However, the leader of the opposition in NA termed all the allegation fabricated.
PML-N leaders including Hamza Shehbaz Sharif and numbers of party supporters have reached the court to welcome the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly.
https://twitter.com/SaniaaAshiq/status/1067638384225648641
The security forces have closed all roads leading to the court in order to avoid any untoward situation, while party workers are not allowed to enter the court, causing an exchange of heated words with police officials.
On Tuesday, the NAB team brought PML-N president back to Lahore for court hearing after his medical checkup.
The opposition leader underwent a complete medical examination at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad. He was advised to take rest and to continue his medicine.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/ashiana-case-nab-to-produce-shehbaz-sharif-before-court-today/
Earlier on Nov 22, the accountability court had approved a seven-day transit remand of Shehbaz allowing him to attend a session of the National Assembly.
The investigators had requested the court to approve the transit remand of the suspect, stating that NA Speaker Asad Qaiser has once again issued a production order for the opposition leader to attend the session. The court had accepted the plea.
