LAHORE: A Lahore High Court (LHC) two-judge bench on Tuesday granted interim protective bail to Zain Malik, the son-in-law of property tycoon Malik Riaz, for 20 days in the fake bank accounts case being probed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur, Omni group chairman Anwar Majeed, his sons and others are also accused in the same case.

The suspects are accused of committing money laundering worth billions of rupees through 29 fake accounts in Summit Bank, Sindh Bank and United Bank Ltd.

Representing Mr Malik, Azhar Siddique advocate argued before the bench that the petitioner had already furnished the complete record before a joint investigation team (JIT) that held a detailed probe into the matter.

The counsel said the petitioner wanted to approach the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for the grant of pre-arrest bail; however, there was serious apprehension of his arrest as NAB initiated several inquiries against him.

After hearing the arguments, the bench, headed by Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmad Khan, granted a 10-day protective bail to Zain Malik, enabling him to appear before the IHC.

SINGERS’ CASE: The LHC directed the sessions court to conclude, within three months, proceedings of a defamation suit filed by singer Ali Zafar against Meesha Shafi on charges of sexual harassment.

Justice Chaudhry Masood Jahangir issued the order on a petition moved by Ms Shafi challenging an order of the Lahore’s district & sessions judge wherein the trial court was asked to decide the suit within one month.

Ms Shafi, in her petition, argued that the order to decide the case in one month was in contradiction with the ground realities. She sought more time to produce witnesses in her favour in the case against Zafar.

In 2018, Ms Shafi had on Twitter alleged that Ali Zafar had sexually harassed her on multiple occasions. Following the allegations, Zafar had filed a Rs1bn defamation suit against her.

Published in Dawn, April 10th, 2019