Saad Rafique's protective bail extended amid NAB probe

LAHORE - Lahore High Court has extended the bail granted to former railways minister Khawaja Saad Rafique and his brother Salman on Wednesday.

Justice Ali Baqir Najafi headed a two-member bench and extended the bail till November 26.

The bail granted to Saad Rafique and his brother Salman expired today; the duo is facing a probe by the National Accountability Bureau in the Paragon housing society scam.

Saad Rafique has also filed a petition in the Lahore High Court against the conduct of Director General NAB, Shahzad Saleem after the official made TV appearances and shared details of the investigation.

The former minister had asserted before a combined investigation team (CIT) that he was not the owner of Paragon Housing scheme.

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Saad Rafique, along with his brother, have appeared before NAB multiple times. In his statements, Saad Rafique argues 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.