LAHORE: An accountability court on Saturday sought progress report on the process of attachment of the assets owned by Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif’s daughter Rabia and son-in-law Imran Ali Yousaf as they had been declared absconders in the Punjab Saaf Pani Company’s reference.

Presiding Judge Amjad Nazir Chaudhry directed the investigating officer to initiate proceedings under section 88 of CrPC against the absconders and also submit details of the movable and immovable assets owned by them for the attachment accordingly.

The judge would resume hearing on April 3.

The duo had also been declared absconders in another reference of money laundering pending against the family of Shehbaz.

The prime suspects in the reference include Saaf Pani Company’s former chairman Raja Qamarul Islam, also a former MPA of PML-N, and former chief executive officer Waseem Ajmal.

The NAB alleged that Mr Islam, being chairman of the company, was involved in awarding contracts of 84 water filtration plants at higher prices. It said the suspect got the contracts of 102 plants approved from the company’s board of directors and committed forgery in the documents.

The bureau accused Mr Ajmal of violating procurement rules and permitting the installation of the water plants in Dunyapur tehsil beyond the scope of the project.

Both Islam and Ajmal were arrested by the NAB in June 2018 and were later released on bail granted by the Lahore High Court on Jan 30, 2019.

Islam said the NAB had arrested him one day after he was awarded ticket by the PML-N for 2018 general election against former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the disgruntled leader of the party, from NA-59, Rawalpindi.

SANA CASE: A special narcotics control court on Saturday once again delayed the indictment of former Punjab law minister Rana Sanaullah and others in a drug recovery case made by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF).

Mr Sanaullah’s counsel told the court that the suspect, being a sitting MNA, was in Islamabad to attend an assembly session summoned for a vote of confidence in the prime minister. He sought a one-time exemption for his client’s appearance.

However, a prosecutor said the suspect could have appeared before the court since the opposition parties had announced a boycott of the assembly’s session.

The judge adjourned hearing till March 20 and directed the bail guarantors of Sanaullah to ensure his appearance on the next date.

The other suspects included Usman Ahmad, Sibtain Haider, Muhammad Akram, Umar Farooq and Amir Rustam. They were the drivers and private security guards of the MNA.

The ANF had arrested the PML-N leader on July 1, 2019, and claimed to have recovered 15kg heroin from his vehicle.

The case was lodged under Section 9(C) of Control of Narcotic Substances Act 1997. He was twice denied bail by the trial court and the Lahore High Court released him on bail on Dec 24, 2019.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2021