LAHORE: An accountability court on Monday granted the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) a three-day transit remand of former Railways Minister Khwaja Saad Rafique for his attendance in a meeting of the law and justice commission in Islamabad.

The NAB special prosecutor filed an application before the court, pleading that being member of a parliamentary committee the suspect was required to attend a meeting of the law and justice commission. Therefore, he asked the court to allow the transit remand of Mr Rafique for his participation in the meeting.

The accountability court’s judge, Syed Najamul Hassan, accepted the request and granted the transit remand of the former railways minister until Jan 16.

Saad and his brother, former provincial minister Khwaja Salman Rafique, are on physical remand already with NAB till Jan 19 in Paragon City Housing Society scam.

NAB had accused the Khwaja brothers of establishing an unlawful housing project in the name of Air Avenue in connivance with former MPA Qaiser Amin Butt and Nadeem Zia. It said the project was later converted into a new housing project, namely Paragon City Pvt Ltd. It said the record showed the Paragon City was an illegal housing scheme and not approved by the Lahore Development Authority (LDA).

The bureau accused the suspects of cheating the public at large and obtaining financial benefits from the funds of the illegal housing scheme.

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2019