LAHORE – A local court on Wednesday granted bail to PML-N MNA Afzal Khokhar in a 34-marla land grabbing case.
The court ordered the lawmaker to submit surety bonds of Rs 100,000 to avail the benefit of bail in the case.
Judicial Magistrate Shazia Mahboob conducted the proceedings of the case in Lahore’s Model Town Courts.
Earlier, the police produced the MNA before the court and requested for physical remand of the accused for investigation.
However, the defence counsel strongly opposed the plea saying that all charges levelled against his client were bailable. He requested the court to grant bail to the MNA.
The court after hearing arguments of the parties granted bail to the MNA Afzal Khokhar and ordered the submission of surety bonds for the purpose.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/pakistan/pml-n-lawmaker-afzal-khokhar-arrested-on-land-grabbing-charges/
The lawmaker was arrested from outside the Supreme Court Lahore Registry in connection with the land grabbing case on Tuesday.
Nawab Town police had registered a case against the MNA on a complaint by British resident Muhammad Ali Zafar. The complainant had stated that he bought 34-marla land from Tariq Mehmood, a few years ago but now Khokhar Palace, the MNA’s residence, had been built on his land. He asked for action against the MNA, saying that the chief justice had directed for moving applications regarding land grabbing to police.
Ali Zafar granted authority to Fayyaz Ahmad to fight the case on his behalf, as he had been residing in London for the last 20 years.
On December 15, the Supreme Court of Pakistan had issued orders to put names of Afzal Khokhar and his brother Saiful Malook Khokhar on the Exit Control List. However, during Tuesday’s hearing, the apex court rejected the prosecutor’s plea to put the names of Khokhar brothers on the ECL.
The orders were issued by a two-member bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, at the Lahore registry on the suo motu notice of as many as 22 encroachments on land owned by Lahore Development Authority in different parts of Lahore.
The chief justice has also directed the Khokhar brothers to submit their property documents before the court within seven days.
The SC has constituted a joint team of Anti-Corruption Board, Board of Revenue, Lahore Development Authority (LDA) and the police, which will prepare and submit a report on Khokhars’ involvement in land grabbing.
