LAHORE: The National Accountability Bureau has sent a questionnaire to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in a land case involving Jang Group’s Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman and summoned him to the bureau office on March 31 to record his statement.

Earlier, NAB’s Lahore office had summoned Mr Sharif to appear before the bureau in the case on March 20, but no response came from him.

In the fresh notice to Mr Sharif, NAB said: “Whereas the competent authority has taken the cognizance of offences allegedly committed by you and others under the provisions of NAO, 1999.

“Whereas the inquiry against Mir Shakilur Rehman, Ex-CM, Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, Officers/Officials of LDA & others has revealed that you as Chief Minster Punjab and Chairman LDA prima facie misused your authority and rendered undue benefit to co-accused Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman by approving exemption of 54x plots measuring one kanal each in a single block (compact form) situated at canal bank H- Block of M.A Jauhar Town, Lahore, vide summary dated 11.07.1986.”

“In view, thereof, you are hereby called upon to appear before a combined investigation team (CIT), IW-II, at NAB complex, Thokar Niaz Beg, Lahore, on 31st March, 2020, at 11am to record your statement in response to questions asked vide questionnaire attached herewith.”

The NAB had arrested Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman on March 12 in a 34-year-old case related to 54-kanal land he allegedly acquired “illegally” in the tenure of then chief minister of Punjab, Nawaz Sharif. He has been on physical remand till April 7. In the case, Mr Rehman had stated that the property in question had been bought from a private party and all evidence of this had been provided to NAB, including the legal requirements fulfilled like duty and taxes. No wrong had been committed in this regard, he said.

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2020