LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Thursday disposed of pre-arrest bail petition of retired Capt Muhammad Safdar, son-in-law of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, after the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) said it did not so far require custody of the petitioner in the inquiry of assets beyond means initiated against him.

At this, the bench comprising Justice Alia Neelum and Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi disposed of the petition. The bench directed the NAB to give the petitioner a ten-day time, as per a Supreme Court’s decision, for approaching the court if his arrest warrant was issued.

The SC in 2018 ruled in Ayaz Khan Niazi’s case that the NAB, after issuance of arrest warrants, should give ten days to a person to enable him/her to approach a court for pre-arrest bail.

Safdar was granted pre-arrest bail on March 8, 2021. Safdar contended through a counsel that an inquiry into his assets was already pending with the Peshawar office of the NAB when its Lahore office initiated another inquiry on similar charges.

He said the act of the NAB of holding two separate inquiries on similar charges against the petitioner was illegal and based on mala fide intention. He alleged that the petitioner had been subjected to political victimisation at the behest of the government.

Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2021