LAHORE: An accountability court on Thursday granted first physical remand of former defence minister Khwaja Muhammad Asif to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for 13 days in an inquiry into assets beyond means against him.

A team of the NAB produced Mr Asif before the court while strict security arrangements were made outside the judicial complex.

At the outset of the hearing, a prosecutor submitted an application on behalf of the investigating officer for a 15-day physical remand of the suspect.

In his arguments, the prosecutor said Mr Asif, during his appearances before the bureau, had failed to explain the sources of his income and assets. He said the suspect was first elected senator in 1991 when his assets were around Rs5 million. He said the assets of the suspect swelled to Rs221m by 2018, which were beyond known sources of his income.

The prosecutor further stated that the former defence minister claimed to have earned Rs130m from his employment in a company of the United Arab Emirates. However, he said, the suspect failed to furnish documentary evidence to support his claim.

The prosecutor said the suspect also failed to explain a transaction of Rs400m made in accounts of a benami company established in the name of his personal servant namely Tariq Mir.

Mr Asif’s counsel Najamul Hassan opposed the physical remand saying his client had already furnished a complete record of his assets to the NAB. He said the former minister appeared before the investigation team dozens of times whenever he was summoned in Rawalpindi or Lahore.

The counsel said all the details the NAB presented before the court had been provided by his client himself. He asked the court to send the suspect on judicial remand instead.

Presiding Judge Jawadul Hassan observed that every defence counsel wanted the court to send his client on judicial remand.

The judge noted that on the other hand the NAB also needed custody to complete its investigation.

Assuring Mr Asif of his rights, the judge directed the NAB to allow family members and lawyers to meet the suspect in addition to facility of food from home.

The judge ordered the NAB to produce Mr Asif again on Jan 14.

Responding to queries of the journalists outside the court, Mr Asif accused Prime Minister Imran Khan of being behind his arrest. Mr Asif was arrested in Islamabad and the NAB brought him to Lahore the other day after obtaining his one-day transit remand from a court of the capital.

In a brief conversation with the media, former speaker of national assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said Mr Asif had been asked to leave PML-N but he refused to do so. He claimed that another leader of PML-N had been asked to abandon the party and its supermo Nawaz Sharif.

Asked as to who wanted Mr Asif to abandon the party, Sadiq said Asif would himself reveal the name at the right time. He said the attempts to make a forward bloc in the PML-N had failed.

Published in Dawn, January 1st, 2021