LAHORE, Oct 6: A contractor moved the Lahore High Court on Monday accusing the NAB of harassing him and claimed that he was being interrogated as an accused though he was summoned as a prosecution witness.

The division bench comprising Justices Tassadaq Husain Jilani and Bilal Khan issued notice to the NAB chairman on the petition filed by Mian Javed Ibrar.

The petitioner contended that he had acquired a piece of land from the then Sialkot Municipal Corporation for the construction of a four-star hotel by giving the highest bid in auction. In 1995, former mayor Sheikh Zafar Iqbal moved an application against him and officials of Sialkot Municipal Corporation before the anti-corruption establishment accusing them of being indulging in corruption.

The petitioner submitted that the inquiry was dropped by the official concerned saying that there was no substance in the allegations levelled against him. However, an FIR was registered in 2002 on the complaint of Sheikh Zafar and the matter was referred to the NAB for investigation this year. In the meanwhile, the former mayor passed away.

According to the petitioner, he was summoned by the NAB and was asked to appear as prosecution witness against the other accused nominated in the FIR. The NAB changed its stance and started interrogating him as if he was an accused.

“They asked me to tender all the relevant documents with them which I did. During interrogation by a NAB director (investigations) on Sept 24, another NAB official Col Javed Raza came into the room and started abusing me,” the petition submitted, adding that he was not sure whether he was being summoned by the NAB as an accused or as a witness.

He contended that he could not be suspected as an accused after the death of the complainant. Besides, he was not a public servant and couldn’t be interrogated by the NAB on corruption charges as only the public officers fell within the ambit of the NAB Ordinance. —Reporter